International Human Rights Law

Children and Armed Conflict Unit

The Children and Armed Conflict Unit is a joint project of the Children's Legal Centre and the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. Its aim is to provide information on the impact of war on children and to analyse existing human rights law in order to provide a better protection of childrens' rights. Its website provides information on the scope of the project, recent news stories relating to on-going conflicts worldwide, and details of the Unit's recent field visits to specific war zones.

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia - (ICTY)

The ICTY was established by a United Nations Security Council Resolution in May 1993 to prosecute persons responsible for violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. Its website contains legal documents relating to the operation of the Tribunal including the rules of procedure and regulations of conduct. It also contains details of all the cases tried by the tribunal, including the full-text of the initial indictments, data on the progress of the case and some transcripts.

United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)

The United Nations Office at Geneva is the largest and most active centre for multilateral conference diplomacy in the world. The main areas of its expertise are disarmament, human rights, humanitarian affairs and trade and economic activities. The site contains links to speeches by the Director-General and a searchable list of press releases, which are available in full-text in HTML and PDF formats. There are also links to the UNOG Library. A further feature of the site is an archive of documents which contains the full-text of key documents such as the UN charter.

UNHCR: the UN Refugee Agency

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was created by the UN General Assembly in 1951. The site offers background information about the work of the UNHCR which includes advocacy, capacity building, fund raising and global needs assessment. There is a section dealing with the groups of people the UNHCR works with including children, women, elderly, disabled and asylem seekers and information on the areas of the world where the UNHRC operates. There are legal documents, statistics and global reports.

Journal of International Human Rights

Website of the Journal of International Human Rights (JIHR), an interdisciplinary journal covering human rights issues and the international law of human rights. The journal has Spring, Summer and Fall issues each year, published by the School of Law at Northwestern University in the United States. Each issue is available free on the site, from volume 1 onwards. The website also gives details of symposia and other events, plus links to human rights resources on the internet.

Commonwealth and International Human Rights Case Law Databases

These two databases are compiled by INTERIGHTS, the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights, and made freely available on their website. One covers human rights decisions in the courts of Commonwealth countries and the other covers the decisions of international courts and tribunals. The databases can be searched separately or together. There is a summary of each case and some judgments are available in full.

Avocats Sans Frontières

Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) is a Belgium-based international NGO. Its membership mostly consists of lawyers and its aim is to promote justice and the rule of law, and to defend the civil, political and other rights of the most vulnerable people in the world. The group's "Lawyers for Lawyers" project aims to support human rights lawyers whose professional independence is under threat. Press releases, a free newsletter, activity reports and other publications are available on the website, plus details of ASF seminars and training. The site can be viewed in English, French or Dutch.

Open Society Justice Initiative

The Open Society Justice Initiative is a programme of the Open Society Institute, a private foundation established by the philanthropist George Soros in 1993. It is concerned with the promotion of law reform, the protection human rights and the development of international law. The site gives details of current and past activities, covering areas such as national criminal justice reform, international justice, freedom of information and expression, equality and citizenship, anti-corruption and development of legal capacity.

International Criminal Court

Website of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is based at the Hague in the Netherlands. It role is to promote the rule of law and deal with the most serious international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The founding Rome Statute is available on the website, together with other basic legal texts, information about ongoing cases and annual reports. Background information about the Court is also provided, including details of its history, organisation and management. The site can be viewed in English or French.

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