Human Rights Law Research Guide

This guide will lead researchers through primary materials and introduce important secondary sources. While general human rights sources are covered in the guide, special attention is paid to resources that specifically address international women's human

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Multi-Institutional & Multi-Jurisdictional Sources for Human Rights Case Law

The print and electronic sources described below selectively publish significant human rights decisions issued by multiple institutions and/or jurisdictions.  While some focus on a particular geographic region or group of countries, others offer worldwide coverage.  Those produced by commercial publishers usually provide case summaries, headnotes, and other editorial enhancements to help readers quickly grasp the significance of decisions.
 

Electronic Sources

  • Oxford Reports on International Law
    This subscription database includes more than 4,000 human rights decisions issued by UN treaty bodies, international and regional tribunals, and national courts.  Begin by selecting “human rights” from the Subject menu in the blue navigation bar.  Then search by keyword or use the filters on the left to narrow.

  • RefWorld – Case Law
    Although it focuses on refugee and asylum case law, this UN database also includes cases that touch on other human rights topics.  Use the filters on the right of the search form to browse by country, by topic, by judicial body or by legal instrument.
     

Print Sources

  • African Human Rights Law Reports, Call No. KQC572.A53 A57.  Also available online.
    Each volume in this series contains important decisions on human rights claims arising in Africa, including those issued by UN treaty bodies, regional tribunals, and domestic courts. The library has volumes for the years 2000-2011 in print.

  • Butterworth’s Human Rights Cases, Call No. K3239.23 B88.  Also available on Lexis.
    This series publishes some of the most important human rights decisions issued by UN treaty bodies, regional commissions and tribunals, and national courts  Each volume includes a table of contents and subject index.  The library has volumes 1-31 (1997-2012) in print.

  • Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest, Call No. K3239.23 .C66
    Each volume in this series provides detailed summaries of landmark human rights cases decided by national courts in common law jurisdictions that were formerly part of the British empire, along with citations for retrieving the full texts of the decisions.  The summaries are arranged by subject.  Lists of cases by party name and by jurisdiction also are provided.

  • International Human Rights Reports, Call No. K3239.23 I57
    This quarterly series publishes the most significant human rights decisions issued by UN treaty bodies and by regional human rights commissions and tribunals.  Each volume includes a table of contents, but there is no subject indexing. 

  • Law Reports of the Commonwealth, Call No. K3165.A495 L38
    This series publishes important decisions issued by national courts in common law jurisdictions that were formerly part of the British empire.  Use the subject index in the front of each volume to identify human rights cases.  The annual subject index also includes lists of cases by party name and jurisdiction.  A cumulative index is published every five years.