International Legal Research

Laura Griffiths
Academic Services
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
October 2013
ials@sasacu!
Session aims

"#$lore international legal research

resources in electronic format

Revie% e#am$les of treaties& la%

re$orts& articles and finding tools
Primary sources I: treaties

'reat( $ublishing falls into four main

grou$s)

General collections

Regional series

*ational series

Sub+ect collections
General ,ollections 1

United Nations (UN)

United Nations Treaty Series -1./0 1 2

League of Nations Treaty Series -1.2031./02

Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the

Secretary-General
General ,ollections 2

International Legal Materials (ILM)

4ublished in $a$er format b( ASIL since 1.02

Annual and ten1(ear cumulative $a$er inde#es

Available in full te#t on Le#is since 1.02& 5estla% 67

since 1.80 and 9einOnline from 1.02 to $re1current
volume

Fletcher Multilaterals Project (TUFTS)

htt$)::fletcherarchivetusm1oitorg:multilaterals:

One of the earliest general treat( %ebsites

Regional ,ollections 1 "uro$e

,ouncil of "uro$e

"stablished in 1./. to $rotect and e#tend human rights and the rule of
la% ;ased in Strasbourg

,urrentl( there are /< member states& including all the "6 countries

=ree& full( searchable& official database of treaties accessible at

conventionscoeint ,ontains full te#t of treaties and current status
information

"uro$ean 6nion

'e#ts of the "6 founding treaties and the "6 accession treaties are on
the free "ur1Le# %ebsite

*ote that all other "6 treaties and agreements -eg bet%een the "6
and non1member states2 count as >legislation? 3 these are also on the
"ur1Le# %ebsite

=urther info on the "uro$ean ,ommission treaties office database

Regional ,ollections 2

Organisation of American States

htt$)::%%%oasorg:+uridico:english:treatieshtml

Searchable b( (ear& sub+ect or al$habeticall( b( title

6$dated fre@uentl(

,ontains full te#t of treaties and current status

information

*orth Atlantic 'reat( Organisation

;asic te#ts are at %%%natoint:docu:basicshtm

Includes full te#t of *A'O treaties

*ational ,ollections

Australia

"#cellent free %eb based collection available at

AustLII 1 Australian 'reaties Librar(

6nited States

Available from 1<<8 3 $resent da( on 5estla%&

Le#is A 9ein Limited free material on Librar( of
,ongress '9OBAS site
*ational ,ollections 1 67

=oreign and ,ommon%ealth Office

'reat( command $a$ers 1..< 3

Ce$osited multilaterals

6nited 7ingdom 'reaties Online -67'O2

6nited 7ingdom 'reat( Series

;ritish and =oreign State 4a$ers

Sub+ect ,ollections

'a# 3 I;=C -subscri$tion2

I4 3 5I4O

htt$)::%%%%i$oint:treaties:en:

'rade 3 5'O

%%%%toorg:english:docsDe:docsDehtm

;I's 3 6*,'AC

htt$)::%%%unctad#iorg:tem$lates:CocSearchDDDD<<.as$#

9uman Rights 3 Binnesota 6niversit( 9R librar(

%%%1umnedu:humanrts:treatieshtm
=inding tools 3 $rinted inde#es

;o%man and 9arris -eds2 Multilateral treaties: index and

current status

;est general $rinted inde# for finding multilateral treaties&

though not com$rehensive

4ublished 1.8/E last su$$lemented to 1../

Arranged chronologicall(

Includes sub+ect and !e(%ord inde#es

*O' u$dated so increasingl( out1of1date

Finding tools
Flare Index to treaties

=ree %eb database to basic

information on over 1&F00
multilateral treaties from
180F to the $resent

,ontent selection based on

entries in Bowan and
!arris

Also $rovides citation details

to $a$er versions and& if
available& a lin! to the free
%eb version
=inding tools 3 other

4eter Rohn) "orld treaty index

,overs treaties signed bet%een 1.20 and 1.8/

Inde#es man( treaties not found in L*'S and 6*'S

'est version htt$)::de$ts%ashingtonedu:hrights:'reat(:trinde#html

4arr( and 9o$!ins) #n index of British treaties

=our volume set

,overs treaties concluded b( 67 bet%een 1101 and 1.88

,ontains both multilateral and bilateral treaties

International La% Re$orts

International la% re$ort $ublishing can

also be grou$ed into four categories)

General collections

Regional collections

*ational collections

Sub+ect collections
4,IG and the I,G

Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ)

1.20 31./0

$ollection of %udgents -Series A2

$ollection of #d&isory 'pinions -Series ;2

Series A A ; merged into (udgents) 'rders * #d&isory

'pinions -Series A:;2

+leadings) 'ral Stateents and Docuents -Series ,2

International Court of Justice (ICJ) 1./0 3

,eports of (udgents) #d&isory 'pinions and 'rders

+leadings) 'ral #rguents) Docuents

"lectronic access to 4,IG:I,G

4,IG) 4C= versions on I,G %ebsite in "nglish and

=rench

"lectronic versions of I,G +udgments& advisor(

o$inions& orders etc are on its %ebsite at
htt$)::%%%ic+1ci+org:

full text from 1./0 to current -%hole series2

Also com$lete coverage on 5estla% and Le#is

Other General ,ollections

International Law Reports) vol1< -1.F021 -=ormerl( #nnual

Digest and reports of +u-lic .nternational Law $ases 1.1.11./.2

,ontains com$lete te#t of +udgments

Aims to $rovide >com$rehensive access in "nglish to +udicial materials

bearing on $ublic international la%?

International Law In o!estic "ourts -ILC,2

domestic cases on international la% from over 0F +urisdictions

!e( $assages translated into "nglish

available at IALS via the "lectronic La% Librar(

Regional ,ollections

#uropean "ourt Reports -,ourt of Gustice

of the "uro$ean ,ommunities& ,=I& etc2

online at
htt$)::eur1le#euro$aeu:en:inde#htm

also on Le#isLibrar(& 5estla% 67 and

Gustis ,"L"H
Sub+ect ,ollections

"uro$ean ,ourt of 9uman Rights %%%echrcoeint

International ,riminal 'ribunals for the former Iugoslavia

%%%unorg:ict( and R%anda htt$)::0../11F3:

International ,riminal ,ourt %%%icc1c$iint

5'O -Cis$ute Settlement cases2

%%%%toorg:english:trato$De:dis$uDe:dis$uDehtm

5orld 'rade La%*et -CS cases A commentaries2

International 'ribunal for the La% of the Sea

1
cases on %ebsite) %%%itlosorg
Secondary sources: useful websites

United Nations %%%unorg:english:

es$eciall( Cocuments lin! and 6*

Cocumentation Research Guide

UNCIT!" %%%uncitralorg

International "aw Commission

%%%unorg:la%:ilc:inde#htm
Secondary sources: useful gateways

#ISI" "lectronic Information S(stem for

International La%

#agle$I %%%ialssasacu!:eagle1ihtm

Findlaw has lin!s to international la% resources at

%%%findla%com:12international

%orld"II htt$)::%%%%orldliiorg:
T&e #nd