LINKS TO:  INTERNATIONAL LAW WEB PAGES

Beginning Research in International Law:

As with U.S. legal research, the goal is to find primary authority to support an argument.  It is important to begin with secondary sources which will lead to the authoritative law.

REFERENCE TEXTS:

Accidental Tourist on the New Frontier : An Introductory Guide to Global Legal Research / edited by Jeanne Rehberg and Radu D. Popa.  Legal research in areas of international, foreign, and comparative law are explained by many experts in the field..   K 85 .A27 1998

Guide to International Legal Research, Compiled by the editors of the George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics.  Part I, the Introduction, gives the overview and research techniques. Part II provides outlines of primary and secondary sources, including Internet sources. Part III deals with regional areas, as well as selected individual countries.  REF KZ 1234 .G85 2002

An introduction to international law/ Mark W. Janis  This text discusses the history and nature of international law, the roles of customary law and rules set up among nations as practiced today.  (4th ed., 2003)
KZ 3140.J36 A35 2003.

Germain's Transnational Legal Research: A Guide for Attorneys / A very useful guide in a loose-leaf format, it presents procedural and practical issues of foreign and international law. REF K85.G47 1991

Good references for foreign legal abbreviations:

Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations / 5th ed./ Comprehensive list

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. (The ALWD Citation Manual does
not give foreign and international citations). Tables and Abbreviations section gives information for treaties, foreign jurisdictions, international organizations, and others as well as citation informaton.

Sources of International Law:

Research guides on treaties can be found at Law Library Resource Exchange (LLRX): Researching US Treaties and Agreements and Researching Non-U.S. Treaties and Agreeements.

1.Treaties and Conventions: The practice has evolved in the modern day world from bilateral or two-party "treaties" to multilateral  "Conventions" in which many parties are involved.

Multilateral treaties can be found through many sources, on the Internet, LEXIS and WESTLAW.
Print materials such as International Legal Materials may be needed for older treaties.
Bilateral treaties are published in different ways, depending on the countries involved. However, they may be difficult to find, and many times the text is not in English.
Status and backround information can be difficult to find, although the Internet is facilitating the publishing, especially at IGO sites.
Customary law is another concept that is included when international agreements are developed. Research in this area can be a difficult task. To gain a good understanding of this type of law, there are useful articles and books with discussions of international customs.

Treaties to which the United States is a party are easy to find, for the U.S. has the most extensive document system of any nation. Elements include: historical and current treaty collections; indexes and finding tools; full-text sources.
The status and background sources are important to the full research of treaties.
Internet sources give current treaty information,however one must depend on print sources for many of the older ones.

Treaties on a particular topic provide a different approach and Internet sites  provide in-depth documentation, some through IGO sites : Environmental treaties , human rights, intellectual property, and the law of the sea are some examples. The Loyola on-line catalog can also be used to find information using subject headings.

2. International Courts and decisions:

 The International Court of Justice, established by the Charter of the United Nations, is the entity which settles disputes among nations.  The goals for an International Criminal Court have been set up through the Rome Statute, but has met with some resistance. The International Law page at the UN site has links to these courts, treaty information, documents and other international law sources.

Regional courts:
The European Court of Justice and Court of First Instancesettle disputes among members of the European Union.
Other courts specifically to handle disputes related to their charter entities are:
    Inter-American Court of Human Rights, judicial arm of the OAS; the charter, documents and case-law are online.
European Court of Human Rights  set up by the Council of Europe has its own web site and has become a strong influence in national court decisions involving human rights issues.
International court decisions in print are available, however the library does not have a large selection of these reports.
They may have to be ordered through interlibrary loan.

3. International Organizations IGO's:
Inter governmental organizations have become prominent forums in the world of international law. Nations come together and discuss global issues and develop policies and law. Many treaties are now drafted by IGO's. These agreements are signed and ratified by members, who are then bound by the terms of the agreement. Modifications are often necessary with so many parties involved.  Treaties are also the framwork for the IGO's structure, usually in the form of a charter. Therefore, it is important to study the charter of an organization to understand its purpose and functions.

4.Non-governmental organizations NGO's
These are private groups who are concerned with specific international issues. They are not governments and they can not make law. However, they are influential and they make recommendations which can be useful to resolution of conflicts.

Good links for lists of IGO's and NGO's and for finding important documents are at Northwestern University  web site.

5.Topics of international law are important to researchers as well.  The Internet has become a good source for many web sites with a focus on special topics. There are many good ways of finding information on a topical area such as human rights, environmental issues or law of the sea, including Internet sites, books and periodicals.

WHERE TO START YOUR RESEARCH:

SECONDARY RESOURCES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: PRINT RESOURCES and ARTICLES on topics.

 Use the Loyola Online Catalog: Start with subject headings such as: International Law-sources or International Law-legal research.The background or historical context  must be considered in this type of research. Scholarly writings provide analysis of all the primary sources of international law and provide evidence as well as direction to the custom of international law. Commentary can update the research and provide current awareness as to other relevant issues and events that occur.
    Second, look for  international law journals and other serial publications to provide the background, giving more titles and book sources. They provide leads to primary sources with exact information such as numbers, dates, and exact titles for research. USE Periodical indexes ,  in print and through electronic resources. They are important tools to access articles. INDEX TO LEGAL PERIODICALS, CURRENT LAW INDEX, AND INDEX TO FOREIGN LEGAL PERIODICALS are available in the law library. HEIN ONLINE is a source for articles which are pre-1980 (the year Lexis and Westlaw begin coverage.) This is a source for U.S. treaty information as well.
 
Do not depend on Lexis and Westlaw for this background research at first. Find some core print materials to get started. Use the electronic databases for international law cases or news sources. The sophisticated search capability can enhance research in analysis and evaluation of the topic you have chosen.
 
Internet research guides are excellent resources to help the researcher get started. They are comprehensive, give tips on research, and provide links to many sources.

Introductory Research Guides on the Internet:

American Society of International Law
This extensive site serves as a springboard for people beginning research in international law. It has a searchable database and gives current news. Most valuable are the links to law lists, directories, searching tools and major reference sites, such as Cornell University and the University of Chicago.

LLRX: (Law Library Resource Exchange): Resource Centers: International Law Guides and Comparative and Foreign Law Guides
This comprehensive site works well as a guide to research in specific areas as well as a guide for current awareness in all subject areas. Many guides are frequently updated on this site.

Guide to Foreign and International Legal Databases - NYU Law Library
NYU provides extensive links to search engines, directories, primary materials, and virtual libraries, as well as to human rights and foreign and international law topical databases. Includes "Evaluation of foreign legal databases" and "Citing Electronic Information".

Harvard Law School: Foreign and International Law Resources (ILS)
Harvard's site is an excellent resource, with well-organized links to general and specialized sites. It includes sections on foreign law, European Union, Roman law, and Islamic law resources and has a listing of individual country sites.