contents
- general international legal research
- foreign law research guides & sources
- US treaties & agreements
- non-US treaties & general treaty information
- international organizations
- general international dispute resolution research
- researching global international dispute resolution systems
- researching regional international dispute resolution systems
- researching international criminal law
- researching international humanitarian law
- researching international arbitration
- journals & other periodicals that cover international dispute settlement
- international law-related current awareness sites
- research & writing tools
- other notable sites
links last full check: 14 June 2024
links last update: 5 August 2024
general international legal research
- www.llrx.com/category/legal-research/comparative-foreign-law/international-legal-research: Articles on international legal research from LLRX
- www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex: NYU Hauser Global Law School's fantastic GlobaLex research guides
- www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Travaux_Preparatoires1.html: GlogaLex's great guide to finding travaux préparatoires
foreign law research guides & sources
- Foreign Law Guide from Brill (Proxy)
- vLex (Proxy): law from around the world, especially latin america (includes many legal treatises), and the UK
- www.worldlii.org: World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)
- www.juriglobe.ca: World Legal Systems from the University of Ottawa
- World Law Guide from Lexadin in the Netherlands
- www.legislationline: Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s legislation database for participating states
- www.llrx.com/category/legal-research/comparative-foreign-law: Articles on comparative & foreign law research from LLRX
- www.llrx.com/2016/08/locating-foreign-civil-codes: Really good article on researching foreign civil codes on LLRX
- www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex: NYU Hauser Global Law School's fantastic GlobaLex research guides (foreign & comparative law included)
- www.global-regulation.com: Global-Regulation is database that translates foreign laws into English. While AUWCL no longer subscribes to this database, it is kept here so that people know it exists.
- The Law Library of Congress' Guide to Law Online
- The Law Library of Congress' Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World
- www.glinf.org: Global Legal Information Network (This incredibly useful foreign law database is currently without a home & thus non-working; but hope springs eternal, so I've left it on the list)
- Foreign Legal Gazettes from the Library of Congress
- www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/?home: The Law Library of Congress' Global Legal Monitor (legal news from around the world)
- www.wipo.int/wipolex/en: WIPOLex, WIPO's database of national laws & treaties on intellectual property
- www.unesco.org/culture/copyrightlaws: UNESCO's Collection of National Copyright Laws [Please note: This website has apparently been removed without any notice or reason posted and is currently off-line.]
- www.unesco.org/cultnatlaws: UNESCO's Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws [Please note: This website has apparently been removed without any notice or reason posted and is currently off-line.]
- LLMC Digitial : This has in it a collection of foreign law, the British Foreign & State Papers, and more. While AUWCL no longer subscribes to this database, it is kept here so that people know it exists.
- Official Gazettes & Civil Society Documentation: Official gazettes from 10 African and Persian Gulf nations where the integrity of the public record is at risk.
- ECLI Portal: Information on the European Case Law Identifier.
- EUR-Lex: The EUR-Lex portal, with access to EU & national case-law.
- LegisPALOP+TL: The Official Legal Database of the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé, & Principe) & East-Timor. Exclusively in Portugese, free registration required.
- HeinOnline US state commitments to foreign governments database (Proxy)
US treaties & agreements
- lawschool.westlaw.com: You can't browse treaties on Westlaw, but you can find them with a citation & keycite them.
- www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool: You can't browse treaties on Lexis Advance, but you can find them with a citation & shepardize them
- www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/treaty-affairs/: The Department of State's Treaty Office website
- www.state.gov/tias/: The official TIAS website
- ustr.gov/trade-agreements: Trade agreements from the USTR (only some)
- congress.gov/treaties: All things treaty in the US Senate from the Library of Congress' Congress.gov website
non-US treaties & general treaty information
- UNTS & LNTS treaties & related info from HeinOnline (Proxy)
- treaties.un.org/Pages/Home.aspx?lang=en: UN treaty website, including the all-important Status of Multilateral Treaties database
- treaties.un.org/doc/source/publications/THB/English.pdf: UN Treaty Handbook
- Flare Index to Treaties: a searchable database of basic information on over 2,000 of the most significant multilateral treaties concluded from 1353 onwards and a number of significant bilateral treaties signed between 1353 and 1815, from Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the University of London.
- www.oas.org/en/sla/dil/treaties_agreements.asp: OAS Treaty Series
- eur-lex.europa.eu/collection/eu-law/treaties.html: European Union Treaty Series
- www.coe.int/en/web/conventions: Council of Europe Treaty Series (including the European Convention on Human Rights
- au.int/en/treaties: African Union Treaty Series
- investmentpolicy.unctad.org/international-investment-agreements: International Investment Agreements Navigator from UNCTAD
- ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl: International humanitarian law treaties from the ICRC (Law of Armed Conflict)
- avalon.law.yale.edu: Historical treaties & other documents (unofficial)
- www.usip.org/publications/2009/04/peace-agreements-digital-collection: Peace agreements from the US Institute of Peace's collections
- British and Foreign State Papers (Proxy)
- HeinOnline World Treaty Library (Proxy)
- www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-treaties: Official UK treaties
- www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/archives-diplomatiques/s-orienter-dans-les-fonds-et-collections/traites-et-accords: France's official treaty website (in French)
- library.law.yale.edu/research-guides/collected-travaux-preparatoires: Collected Travaux Préparatoires from Yale
- Chemical Weapons Convention
international organizations
- Researching the United Nations: My research guide for the Pence Law Library
- research.un.org/en/docs: UN's research guide
- www.un.org/en/index.html: United Nations
- documents.un.org: The detailed search portal for the Official Documents of the UN website (resolutions from 1946 & other documents from 1993)
- journal.un.org/en/: Journal of the UN (entire organization)
- journal.un.org/en/new-york: Daily Journal of the UN (New York)
- journal.un.org/en/geneva: Daily Journal of the UN (Geneva)
- legal.un.org/repertory: Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs produced by the Codification Division under the GA Sixth Committee
- www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/repertoire/structure: Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council produced by the SC
- www.un.org/ola: UN Office of Legal Affairs, gateway to everything "law" at the UN
- www.un.org/ola/en/content/div-cod: UN Codification Division (lots of useful stuff here)
- legal.un.org/unjuridicalyearbook: UN Juridical Yearbook
- digitallibrary.un.org: UN Digital Library
- www.un.org/en/library/page/un-resources-documents: UN resources & documents
- League of Nations Document Finding Aids
- legal.un.org/ilc: International Law Commission
- legal.un.org/ilc/guide/gfra.shtml: ILC Analytical Guide
- legal.un.org/ilc/dtSearch/Search_Forms/dtSearch.html: ILC full-text search
- www.refworld.org: The UNHCR's wonderful tool, RefWorld, with tons of information concerning refugees and refugee law worldwide
- www.ohchr.org/en/publications: Publications of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- legal.un.org/repertory: Repertory of UN Practice
- www.oas.org/en: Organization of American States
- unasursg.org/en: Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) [Please note: This website is currently off-line.]
- european-union.europa.eu/index_en: European Union
- www.coe.int: Council of Europe
- au.int/en: African Union
- www.worldbank.org: World Bank Group
- www.wto.org: World Trade Organization
- www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html: World Intellectual Property Organization
- www.llmcdigital.org : LLMC Digital, which has some documents from the PCIJ, Maritime Law Association, EFTA, & documents from the East African Community. While AUWCL no longer subscribes to this database, it is kept here so that people know it exists.
- The GATT Basic Instruments & Selected Documents (BISD) on HeinOnline (proxy): A pdf version of the complete published paper record of the GATT, which is what the Bluebook requires for citation.
- WTO Documents Online
- WTO Legal Texts
- GATT Documents from the WTO
- GATT Digital Library: 1947-1994, from Stanford University
- US—Mexico—Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA, formerly NAFTA & CAFTA) Secretariat
- Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
general international dispute resolution research
- World Courts: Some decisions of international courts
- Oxford Law Reports on International Law (Proxy)Oxford Law Reports on International Law
- www.usip.org/publications/2011/03/truth-commission-digital-collection: Truth & Reconcilliation Commission materials from the US Institute of Peace's collections
researching global international dispute resolution systems
- International Court of Arbitration (Int'l Chamber of Commerce)
- International Court of Justice
- Some things you just can't find online, like these topical digests of ICJ caselaw:
- Ziccardi Capaldo, Giuliana, ed. Repertory of Decisions of the International Court of Justice (1947-1992). Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1995. In 2 volumes at Reserve KZ 213.Z5
- Bernhardt, Rudolf, Michael Bothe, Josef Jurina, & Karin Oellers-Frahm. Fontes Iuris Gentium, Series A, Sectio I, Digest of the Decisions of the International Court of Justice (Volumes 6.1 & 6.2: 1959-1975). Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1978. In 2 volumes in the General Stacks JZ 63.F65
- Bernhardt, Rudolf, et al. Fontes Iuris Gentium, Series A, Sectio I, Digest of the Decisions of the International Court of Justice (Volume7: 1976-1985). Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1990. Missing from our collection.
- Hoffmann, Rainer, Juliane Kokott, Karin Oellers-Frahm, Stefan Oeter, & Andreas Zimmermann. World Court Digest (Volume 1: 1986-1990). Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1992. Reserve KZ 213.W67
- Hoffmann, Rainer, Juliane Kokott, Karin Oellers-Frahm, Stefan Oeter, & Andreas Zimmermann. World Court Digest (Volume 2: 1991-1995). Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1997. Reserve KZ 213.W67
- Krisch, Nico, Karin Oellers-Frahm, Christian Walter, & Andreas Zimmermann. World Court Digest (Volume 3: 1996-2000). Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2002. Reserve KZ 213.W67
- Minnerop, Petra, Karin Oellers-Frahm, Fronk Schorkoph, Christian Walter, & Annette Weerth. World Court Digest (Volume 4: 2001-2005). Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2009. Reserve KZ 213.W67
- International Law Commission
- International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
- Permanent Court of Arbitration
- Permanent Court of Arbitration advanced case search tool
- Research Guide to the Permanent Court of Arbitration from the Peace Palace Library
- Permanent Court of International Justice
- Tribunal Arbitral du Sport
- United Nations
- League of Nations Document Finding Aids
- World Trade Organization
- U.N. human rights instruments & mechanisms
- U.N. Human Rights Bodies
- U.N. Human Rights Treaty Bodies Database
- U.N. Universal Human Rights Index
- UN Human Rights Treaties Travaux Préparatoires from the University of Virginia
- U.N. Human Rights Treaties from Bayefsky.com
- WorldCourts.com (Info on the CIS Economic Court, the Central American Court of Justice, the PCIJ, International Commissions of Inquiry, and the International Prize Court) This also now offers a mechanism to search the case law of a large number of international tribunals, although I have not tested its accuracy.
researching regional international dispute resolution systems
- African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (in existence, but will be merged into the African Court of Justice & Human & Peoples' Rights)
- African Court of Justice (link to PDF of statute) (not established, statute in force but superceded & was supposed to be merged into the African Court of Justice & Human Rights, but that may not be true anymore). For historical purposes, I've uploaded a copy of the Protocol here.
- African Court of Justice & Human & Peoples' Rights (link to PDF of 2014 protocol with statute) (not yet established nor statute in force), and Status of the Protocol (link to PDF showing signature/ratification/deposit). This merged court will begin 30 days after the deposit of the 15th member state ratification. As of the last update in January 2019, 15 countries had signed the protocol, but none had yet ratified nor deposited ratification.
- African Union
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- Council of Europe
- European Court of Auditors
- Court of Justice of the European Union
- European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Case-Law Database: The FRA Case-law Database provides a compilation of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law with direct references to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
- European Court of Human Rights and the HUDOC ECHR case-law database
- European Free Trade Agreement Court of Justice
- European Union
- Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights Jurisprudence Finder
- Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Decision Archive
- Violations Against The Inter-American Convention On Human Rights: Loyola (LA)'s article-by-article list of IACHR violation cases, with links to great case summaries and other information about each case
- Anotada y concordada con la Jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos: This is a Spanish-language treatise (PDF) that digests the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights by IACHR article
- Análisis de la Jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en Materia de Integridad Personal y Privación de Libertad: This is a Spanish-language treatise (PDF) that digests the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on IACHR articles 5 & 7
- Inter-American Juridical Committee
- United States—Mexico—Canada Agreement (USMCA), formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) & US Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
- Organization of American States
researching international criminal law
- ICC Legal Tools Database: Your one-stop shop for researching international criminal law.
- Case Matrix Network knowledge hub: ICC statute commentary & much more.
- The ICRC's Customary IHL Database: This is an online version of the ICRC’s study on customary international humanitarian law, originally published in print in 2005. The 2005 study consists of two volumes: volume I (rules) and volume II (practice). The database makes the rules and the practice underlying them accessible online. Its practice part is regularly updated. The rules remain the same as in 2005.
- RULAC: Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts, from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, systematically qualifies situations of armed violence using the definition of armed conflict under international humanitarian law. RULAC also identifies the parties to these conflicts and applicable international law.
- Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed During the Period of Democratic Kampuchea [Note: This website is down often.]
- International Criminal Court
- International Criminal Court travaux préparatoires (via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine)
- Documents from the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court are available in searchable interface at documents.un.org (the search portal for the Official Documents of the UN website). just enter PCNICC/ in the Symbol search box. You can search full-text within those documents by using the Full-text search box.
- United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
- ICTY Court Records (requires free registration)
- The War Crimes Verdicts Map: An interactive tool designed by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network to provide an overview of court rulings on the crimes that were committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s
- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, archived website
- International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg war crimes trials) from the Library of Congress
- International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg war crimes trials) from Yale's Avalon Project
- Taube Archive of the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg, 1945‑46 from Stanford University
- Search Harvard's Nuremberg Military Tribunal documents (US zonal war crimes trials in Nuremberg, not yet complete)
- International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo war crimes trials) Charter and Judgment
- Singapore War Crimes Trials (WWII era) Web Portal
- The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone (the old website of the Special Court for Sierra Leone has been taken off-line). The RSCSL Court Records Database is quite useful.
- Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor: The official website for these panels is no longer up, but there is an archive of the indictments and judgments. Regulation 2000/15, the "statute" of the tribunal, is no longer officially available, but we have a copy of it here: UNTAET/REG/2000/15 (PDF). The International Center for Transitional Justice has a good retrospective report that analyses the panels, their process, and their results (PDF).
- Special Tribunal for Lebanon finished its mandate on 31 December 2023. Their website is no longer functioning, and there does not appear to be a residual mechanism or archive as of June 2024. The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine does have an archived version. Historical documents are also available on the UN archive.
- Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal [Note: The original website is long gone. This version is via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.]
- Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- UNMIK: UN Mission in Kosovo. Official Gazette, UN Secretary-General Reports, & key documents.
- Yale's Genocide Studies Program (very comprehensive, including historical cases)
researching international humanitarian law
- ICRC's treaty & customary law page
- The ICRC's Customary IHL Database: This is an online version of the ICRC’s study on customary international humanitarian law, originally published in print in 2005. The 2005 study consists of two volumes: volume I (rules) and volume II (practice). The database makes the rules and the practice underlying them accessible online. Its practice part is regularly updated. The rules remain the same as in 2005.
- U.S. Department of Defense Military Commissions
- U.S. War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2441 (2006).
- Article 3, common to all four 1949 Geneva Conventions.
- Diplomatic Conferences for the adoption of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols Research Guide from the ICRC.
researching international arbitration
- UN Reports of International Arbitral Awards/Recueil des Sentences Arbitrales (RIAA)
- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
- ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICA)
- ICC arbitration and mediation rules
- ICC case information & search
- ICC Dispute Resolution Library (Proxy)
- Permanent Court of Arbitration
- Permanent Court of Arbitration advanced case search tool
- International Council for Commercial Arbitration
- London Court of International Arbitration
- WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
- Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods Database from Pace University
- Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts (CLOUT)
- International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
- Understanding dispute settlement at the World Trade Organization (WTO)
- WTO Dispute Settlement Gateway
- Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC)
- American Arbitration Association (AAA)
- Tribunal Arbitral du Sport
- National Arbitration Forum
- Camera Arbitrale di Milano (Chamber of Arbitration of Milan, in Italian, English, & French)
- Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission
- Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA)
- International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolutions (CPR)
- Paris, the Home of International Arbitration
- Commercial Arbitration & Mediation Centre of the Americas (CAMCA)
- Cour Européenne d'Arbitrage—European Court of Arbitration
- Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (Common Court of Justice & Arbitration of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa)(OHADA)
- Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre
- US—Mexico—Canada Free Trade Agreement (USMCA, formerly NAFTA) Dispute Resolution
- USMCA decisions & reports
- Court of Conciliation & Arbitration of the Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
- Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)
- Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA)
- Kigali international Arbitration Centre (KIAC)
- China International Economic & Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC)
- Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (problems accessing, June 2024)
- Sharm el Sheikh International Arbitration Centre (SHIAC)
- Iran-United States Claims Tribunal & their advanced case search
- WIPO internet Domain Name Dispute Resolution
- Index of WIPO UDRP Panel Decisions
- Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC)
- National Arbitration Forum Domain Name Dispute Resolution
- Arbitration Center for .eu Disputes
- Arbitration Center for Top Level Domain name disputes
- Kluwer Arbitration Online (Proxy)
- Westlaw (once you login to Westlaw, the arbitration materials are available at Content Types->Arbitration Materials)
- Lexis+ (once you login to Lexis+, the arbitration materials are available at Explore->Topics->International Law->Dispute Resolution)
- investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IIA: International Investment Agreements Navigator from UNCTAD
- investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/isds: Investment Dispute Settlement Navigator from UNCTAD
journals & other periodicals that cover international dispute settlement
- Law & Practice of International Courts & Tribunals (Proxy)
- Global International Courts Review (paper only)(this journal does not appear to be indexed in any of the main periodical indexes, so a scan of its tables of contents could be useful)
- Journal of International Dispute Settlement (Proxy)
- Journal of International Criminal Justice (Proxy)
- Revue de l'arbitrage (Proxy)
- International arbitration journal (Proxy) (only published in 1945)
- ICSID Review: Foreign Investment Law Journal (Proxy)
- Global Arbitration Review (Proxy)
- Czech (& Central European) Yearbook of Arbitration, K 2400.A15 C94 (paper only)
- ASA bulletin / Association Suisse de l'Arbitrage (Proxy)
- Dispute Resolution Journal (formerly the Arbitration Journal)(on Westlaw) (1993-present only)
- American Journal of International Law (Proxy)
- European Journal of International Law (Proxy)
- Leiden Journal of International Law (Proxy)
international law-related current awareness sites
- insidetrade.com (Proxy): Inside US Trade
- OpinioJuris.org: international law blog in association with the International Commission of Jurists
- IntLawGrrls: voices on international law, policy, practice
- EJIL: Talk!: Blog of the European Journal of International Law
- Lawfare: non-partisan, timely analysis of thorny legal and policy issues in national security
- Erga Omnes: Where Politics and Human Rights Meet Universal Jurisdiction
- European Court of Human Rights News
- International Law Prof Blog
- China Law Blog
- International Economic Law and Policy Blog: Expert commentary on the law, politics and economics of international trade and investment
- Letters Blogatory: The Blog of International Judicial Assistance
- International Law Reporter: Scholarship, Events, Ideas
- ICT for Peacebuilding (#ICT4Peace): Exploring the use of information and communications technology for conflict transformation
- Justia's BlawgSearch: a useful listing of law blogs
research & writing tools
- How to search Google (scroll down to "Expert Search Tips" and ignore the AI crap)
- All things JurisM & Zotero (really useful research & citation managers)[coming soon]
- Useful videos on installing & using Zotero
- Creating tables of authorities in Microsoft Word 2021 on a Mac
other notable sites
- Martinus Nijhoff Online portal (Proxy): includes the Recueil des Cours
- Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Proxy)
- HeinOnline (Proxy): lots of interesting international & foreign law stuff on HeinOnline
- Hague Academy of International Law Peace Palace Library
- Virtual platform on the history of international law from Tilburg University in the Netherlands. This includes a really good e-lecture series on the history of international law
- Foreign Relations of the United States: The State Department's official record of US foreign relations is now digitized (over 545 volumes, in TEI XML) and is searchable.
- www.usip.org/publications-tools/digital-collections: The US Institute of Peace's Margarita S. Studemeister Digital Collections in International Conflict Management, which has resources dealing with the prevention, management, and resolution of international conflict.
- World Trade Online (Proxy): from Inside U.S. Trade, a great international trade information source.
- The Oxford English Dictionary online
- Useful Latin phrases & terms. This is a dictionary of useful Latin phrases I have compiled.
- Georges Scelle and dédoublement fonctionnel (a nice essay in the European Journal of International Law by Judge Antonio Cassese)
- LOAC & military law resource page at Library of Congress
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports