Library Guides: International Law: Treaties, Case Law & Databases

Databases, Treaties & Case Law

International:

United Nations Library of International Treaties
A powerful collection of links to treaty collections maintained by the UN and other state and non-state bodies, including the:
- "United Nations Treaty Series" database;
- "League of Nations Treaty Series" database;
- "Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secreatary-General" database.
WorldLII International Treaties & Agreements
Includes browse options by country, subject and responsible organisations, as well as treaty indexes and links to Research Centres.

Australia:

Australian Treaties Library (AustLII)
Includes text of treaties Australia is a signatory to, Australian treaties not yet in force, the Select Documents on International Law database, which contains information about treaty amendments etc. and other Australian treaty related resources.

Europe:

Council of Europe Treaties
Over 200 European human rights related treaties from 1949 to current in full text, and including some additional information relevant to the treaties. From the Council of Europe, a key European human rights body.
Eur-Lex European Union Treaties
Includes treaties currently in force, founding treaties, accession treaties and other treaties and protocols relevant to the European Union.

Americas:

Organization of American States - Treaties and Agreements
Bilateral and multilateral agreements between members states from North, Central and South America.

International:

International Court of Justice
The principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Site includes information about the court, links to the basic and founding court documents, access to full-text judgements, advisory opinions, other publications, and links to the courts' predecessor, the Permanent Court of International Justice (1922-1946).
International Criminal Court
Contains information about the court, founding documents, full text access to cases, activity reports, media releases and a "Legal Texts and Tools" research guide.
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Includes information about the Tribunal, full text access to case decisions and Advisory Proceedings, basic court texts , jurisdictional information and links to other relevant publications.
Permanent Court of Arbitration
Includes information about the court, full-text access to case decisions and arbitral awards documentation and information regarding UNCITRAL and UNCLOS, and other documents and resources.
WorldLII International Courts & Tribunals Collection
Extensive links to court and tribunals which regularly consider matters of international and regional law.
Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT)
Established in 1997, this is an attempt to bring together information, documentation, and case law etc. from all relevant international courts and tribunals.

African:

African International Law Courts & Tribunals
Provides information about, and links to African continental, sub-regional, and criminal courts applying regional and international law.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Provides information regarding the genocide of 2004 leading to the establishment of the tribunal, full-text case decisions, and founding documents.
Special Court for Sierra Leone and Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone
Information regarding the court, founding documentation, and full-text case decisions.

Caribbean:

Caribbean Court of Justice
From 1973, and the Treaty of Chaguaramas, the Caribbean Community was established. The Caribbean Court of Justice was established in 2001. Website includes information about the court, court instruments, and judgments and proceedings in full-text.

Central America:

Central American Court of Justice
Provides information about the court, and links to judgements and basic court documents. From the Project on International Courts and Tribunals.

Europe:

European Court of Human Rights
Includes information about the court, full-text case law, founding texts and documentation and other relevant publications.
European Court of Justice
Includes access to case law from the Court of Justice, General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal.
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Includes information about the court, trial broadcasts, case decisions, and resources via a legal library providing access to associated documentation.

Asia:

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
Also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Includes information regarding current cases and case summaries and full-text decisions.

Middle East:

Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Provides information about the court, full-text judgements and court founding documents.

United Nations International Law Commssion
Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the International Law Commission provides that the “Commission shall have for its object the promotion of the progressive development of international law and its codification”.
General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal)
The Sixth Committee is the primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly.
United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (OLA)
Established under General Assembly resolutions, the Office provides a centralised, unified legal service and aims to assist in the development, codification and implementation of international public and trade law.
United Nations Rule of Law Unit
The central UN rule of law web-based resource, providing information about UN rule of law issues and activities, and various tools, documents and materials on the subject.
United Nations Documents on the Codification of International Law
Supplement to American Journal of International Law, Volume 41, No. 4, October, 1947, via the American Society of International Law.

Legal Scholarship Network (via SSRN)
The Legal Scholarship Network is a scholarly repository for legal articles and academic works.
NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository
The NELLCO Legal Scholarship Repository provides a free and consistent point of access for working papers, reports, lecture series, workshop presentations, and other scholarship created by faculty at NELLCO member schools, including law schools at Berkeley, Boston College, Cornell, Duke, Yale and many others.
WorldLII International Law Library
The International Law Library includes both the International Treaties Collection and the International Courts and Tribunals Collection, and contains over 80,000 documents.

Academic Writing in Law
There are few things more important in the legal discipline than being able to write. Whether it's drafting letters, contracts, briefs, or dissecting argumentation on case law, a lawyer needs best-practice knowledge of the right style, format and clarity of expression. The focus of this guide is to equip students with the writing skills necessary for the study and practice of law.
Compiling Research Materials
Once you find what you're looking for, you need to extract and compile the information and structure it into a coherent argument. This resource is designed to assist you in that process.
Using Law Databases
Struggling to use the databases? Check out the collection of user guides here. You'd be surprised how many tools are available to help make your searching faster, relevant, and more precise.