There is no single, comprehensive human rights database that includes all of the judgments, decisions, findings, and determinations that comprise the ever-expanding body of human rights case law. Some sources do publish human rights decisions issued by multiple institutions or jurisdictions, but they are selective in what they publish and tend to focus on landmark cases of the highest significance.
If you have a citation to a known case as a starting point, and that citation includes an unfamiliar abbreviation or acronym, use one of the following resources to help you decipher the citation and identify the source in which the case was published:
Once you have identified the name of the source, the next step is to determine if the source is available in print or online. To do so, use the Advanced Search and select Law Library Catalog. Then select Title as the search field and enter the name of the source in the search box. Don't hesitate to ask a librarian if you need help.
If you don't have a citation, start by identifying the relevant institution or jurisdiction. Are you looking for decisions issued by a UN treaty body, a regional commission or tribunal, or a national court? Once you have made this determination, use the links above to access the available sources for retrieving decisions issued by the relevant institution or jurisdiction.
Finally, it's worth noting that some IGOs and NGOs offer free online databases of human rights case law that focus on a particular subject or group of related subjects. These can be good sources for locating cases that are not available elsewhere.
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