Human Rights Research

Regardless of the topic, it is best to start any legal research project with secondary sources. Secondary legal sources include treatises, loose-leaf services and law review articles. There are many international and foreign secondary sources.

Research in the area of international human rights may involve looking at basic instruments such as treaties, United Nations resources, as well as documents and decisions from other regional human rights commissions and courts. There are also databases collecting the decisions of various bodies, or at least summaries that a searchable. Additionally, the human rights practices of a particular country may be important.

In the course of your human rights research, if you have any questions or would like to discuss researching a particular topic, please contact Stefanie Weigmann.


Locating International Secondary Sources

Secondary sources provide an overview of an area of the law, such as human rights, along with citations to primary authority, including treaties and case law.

Books: Use the BU online catalog to search for books and loose-leaf services related to human rights and international law, including:
  • Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Law Ref JC571 .E53 1996)
  • International Human Rights in a Nutshell (Law Reserve K3240.4 .B84 2002)
  • International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Law Annex KZ6471 .P76 2002)

Journal articles: A helpful first step with any legal research project is to locate articles on your research topic. Articles, written by scholars and experts in the field, provide an overview of a specific topic, and collect citations to other articles, treaties, cases, and more, providing a great jump start on your research.

To find law review or periodical articles, try:

  • The Max Planck Institute Public International Law index - See VR14 (Law Annex Ref JX3091 P816).
  • RAVE which can be searched (the abbreviations for the journals are under "research tools")
  • Peace Palace Catalog - indexes journal articles
  • UNBISnet - the UN catalog also indexes books and articles
  • ASILEX - allows you to search all American Society of International Law publications
  • Legaltrac: An index of law review articles from 1980 to present. Also on Westlaw (LRI) and LexisNexis (LGLND).
  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals: This database, secured by IP address, is available from any computer on the BU campus. The IFLP indexes articles about international and comparative law of countries other than United States, British Isles, and British Commonwealth.
  • European Legal Journals Index (Law Annex Ref KJC 6.5 E87) indexes articles from legal periodicals published in Europe.
  • Legal Journals Index (Law Annex Ref K33 .L44 through 1999 and via Westlaw (LJI)(1986 to date)), which indexes articles from legal periodicals published in the United Kingdom
  • Search law reviews available via HeinOnline (BU only), including older law review articles not available via LexisNexis and Westlaw. Articles are all in Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf).
  • PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service: This database contains citations to articles related to political science which can often be useful when looking at human rights (BU only).
  • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts: This database contains citations and abstracts of articles related to political science, international relations and law, which can also be useful when looking at human rights. (BU only).
  • Social Science Citation Index: Covers large number of social science journals
  • SSRN (Social Science Research Network, Legal Scholarship Network subset): This database includes abstracts and some full text of working papers on social science and law topics. These working papers can be useful when conducting human rights research. Be sure to scroll down the page for citation information and availability to download a document.
  • Full text law review databases on Westlaw and LexisNexis. However, please be aware, the date coverage of law review articles varies greatly.

Once you have located citations to articles, check the location of periodicals at the BU Pappas Law Library or consult the BU online catalog to determine where the journal is on the shelves at Pappas. You can also access .pdf versions of law review articles online via HeinOnline.

If BU does not have the journal, you can request the article or even a book from another library through interlibrary loan, and it will be delivered to Pappas.

 

Basic Instruments: Treaties and Agreements

To locate human rights instruments, use the same resources as those for finding Treaties. Human rights instruments, also often collected in topical treaty resources, and other resources including:

Just as with any treaty research, it is important to update the status of human rights instruments. In addition to the resources for updating treaties, consult:

The United Nations and Human Rights

The United Nations (UN), in particular the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), has a prominent role in the protection of international human rights.

One of the first statements of human rights principles was the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This led to the creation of the Commission on Human Rights and the UNHCHR. For information about the Declaration see:

  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Common Standard of Achievement (Law Annex K3240 .U55 1999)
  • The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Fifty Years and Beyond (Law Annex K3240.6 .U55 1999)

To learn about the UN, the UNHCHR and other UN human rights actors, take a look at:

  • The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: The Challenges of International Protection, (Law Annex JZ 5008.5 R36 2002)
  • The United Nations and Human Rights, 1945-1995 (Law Annex K3240.4 .U44 1995)
  • The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring (Law Annex K3240.4 .F88 2000)
  • The UN Human Rights Treaty System in the 21st Century (Law Annex K 3240 U54 2000)
  • The United Nations and Human Rights: A critical appraisal (Law Annex K3240.4 .U482 1992)
  • Yearbook of the United Nations (Law Annex JX 1977 .A1 U53)
  • Basic Documents of the United Nations (Law Annex JX 1977 A15 U5)
  • Yearbook on Human Rights (Law Annex JX 1977 .A1 U54).
  • UN Chronicle (Mugar JX 1977 .A1 F64) the UN's newsletter
  • United Nations: Human Rights
  • For the Record: The UN Human Rights System (1997- ) from Human Rights Internet

Charter based bodies

These UN bodies were established under the Charter of the United Nations. To find documents issued by the General Assembly, Commission on Human Rights and Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, all established by the Charter of the United Nations, search the Charter Based Bodies Database from the UNHCHR. There are also resources specific to each charter based body.

Treaty based bodies

These bodies were established to monitor the implementation of human rights treaties. Many of the major human rights conventions require parties to report on the human rights situation in their country. These reports and other documents from the six committees which monitor the implementation of the human rights treaties can be found in the UNHCHR's Treaty Body Database. The six treaty based bodies are:

  • Human Rights Committee
    • The Reporting Procedure under the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Practice and Procedures of the Human Rights Committee (Law Annex K3240 .B64 1999)
    • The Law and Process of the U.N. Human Rights Committee (Law Annex K3241 .Y68 2002)
    • Selected decisions under the optional protocol/Human Rights Committee (Law Annex K3239.23 .U554)
    • Yearbook of the Human Rights Committee (Law Annex JX 1977 A1 U55 (1977-1987)) (cont'd by Official Records below)
    • Official Records of the Human Rights Committee (from 1987- )(Law Annex JX 1977 A1 U55 1988)
    • Documents from the UNHCHR Treaty Body Database
    • Documents from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
  • Committee against Torture (CAT)
    • The UN Committee Against Torture: An assessment (Law Annex K5304 .I5413 2001)
    • The United Nations Convention against Torture: A Handbook on the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Law Annex K5410.T6 B87 1988 )
    • The U.N. Convention on Torture and the Prospects for Enforcement (Law Annex K5304.A41984 B68 1999)
    • Documents from the UNHCHR Treaty Body Database
    • Documents from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
  • Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
    • Documents from the UNHCHR Treaty Body Database
    • Documents from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
  • Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
  • Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
    • Combating Racial Discrimination: The UN and Its Member States (Law Annex K3242 .B36 2000)
    • International Action Against Racial Discrimination (Law Annex HT1521 .B36 1996)
    • Documents from the UNHCHR Treaty Body Database
    • Documents from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
  • Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
    • Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child: Third to Seventeenth Session, 1993-1998 (Law Annex K639 .C66 2000 )
    • Revisiting Children's Rights: 10 Years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Law Annex K639 .R48 2000)
    • International Conventions Affecting Children (Law Annex K639.A35 R67 2000)
    • Implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Resource Mobilization in Low-Income Countries (Law Annex K639 .I47 1995)
    • The Draft United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Law Annex HQ789 .D73 1988)
    • Documents from the UNHCHR Treaty Body Database
    • Documents from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
    • NGO Alternative Reports submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (Child Rights Information Network)

Finding United Nations Documents

United Nations official documents are an important part of human rights research. In addition to the resources related specifically to human rights documents, UN documents can be found using:

  • Official Document Service (from 1993) use "Global Search"
  • UN Documents (Law Micro) 1946-1950 and from 1976- present. Human Rights documents 1986-present. Mugar has the complete core UN microfiche collection (Mugar Micro Mfiche).
  • AccessUN: Search AccessUN to find UN document numbers for use with the UN Documents fiche set above or find select documents in full-text. Includes documents issued 1945 to date. This Internet database, secured by IP address, is accessible from all BU computers, and is also accessible off-campus to all BU faculty and students through the proxy server.
  • UNIQUE is provided by the Dag Hammarskjold Library and provides quick pointers to important documents and document numbers.
  • UNDOC: Current index: United Nations Documents Index. (1979-1996) (Law Micro JX1977.A1 U45)
  • UNDEX. United Nations documents index. (Mugar Reference X JX1977 .A2 ) Series A, B, C (1974-1979)
  • United Nations documents index: cumulated index, (1950-1962) (Law Annex Ref JX1977.A1 U42 1974)
  • United Nations Documentation Centre
  • United Nations Treaty Collection (BULaw only, request the password).
  • UBISNET (provides bibliographical or catalogue information of UN documents indexed by the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva.) Note that other commercial publications and non-UN sources held by these libraries are also indexed within this catalogue and may be included in search results.)
  • International Human Rights Reports (Law Annex K 3240.4 I579)
  • Human Rights Bibliography: United Nations Documents and Publications 1980-1990 (Law Annex JX1977.A38 H86 1993 )
  • United Nations Reference Guide in the Field of Human Rights (Law Annex K3236 .U55 1993)

United Nations Document Research Guides

Regional Human Rights Systems

Africa

  • African Commission on Human and People's Rights
    • Documents of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (Law Annex KQC573.A37 D63 2001)
    • The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights: The System in Practice, 1986-2000 (Law Annex JC599.A35 A374 2002)
    • The African Human Rights System: Its Laws, Practice, and Institutions (Law Annex KQC572 .N54 2001)
    • Documents from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
  • African Human Rights Resource Center from the University of Minnesota

Americas

Europe

  • General Resources:
    • For the Record: The European Human Rights System (2000- ) from Human Rights Internet
    • MIRIS: Minority Rights Information System
    • European Human Rights Reports (Law Annex K 3236.1 E87 )
    • Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Commission and European Court of Human Rights (Law Annex JX 4263 H8 Y4)
    • European Court of Human Rights. Survey of activities, 1959-1989 (Law Annex KJC5138.A7 E973 1990 )
    • International Human Rights Reports (Law Annex K 3240.4 I579)
  • European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR")
    • Case law
      • Judgments (HUDOC) from the Court's web site (1959- )
        • HUDOC Manual: Beginner and Advanced (.pdf)
        • Law Annex KJC 5132 A52 E88 (1961- )
      • Case law of the European Court of Human Rights(Law Annex KJC 5138 A3 B47 1989)
      • International Human Rights Reports (Law Annex K 3240.4 I579)
      • Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights: Reference Charts (Law Annex KJC5138.A4 G66 1995 )
      • Westlaw (EHR-RPTS)
    • Digests: Finding ECHR case law
      • Digest of Strasbourg case-law relating to the European Convention on Human Rights (Law Annex KJC 5132 A52 D54 1984 )
      • Digest of case-law relating to the European Convention on Human Rights (1955-1967) (Law Annex JX4263.H8 D5 1970)
      • A Systematic Guide to the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, 1960-1994 (Law Annex KJC5132.A52 S97 1996)
 

Databases of Opinions

 

Country Specific Information

To attempt to determine the actual human rights practices of individual countries, look at country reports from governments, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and news sources.

Government Publications

UN Publications

IGO Country Reports

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

News reports

 

Guides

While human rights research is extremely interesting, it can also be challenging. If you have any questions or would like some assistance with your research project, please stop by the Reference Desk, Pappas Law Library Reading Room.


Page maintained by Stefanie Weigmann
Last updated: August 2007