The UN Human Rights Council is the successor to the UN Commission on Human Rights. It is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. The Council's website gives details of its membership, rules of procedure, advisory committees and working groups, meetings and other events. There is information about the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), whereby the HRC reviews the human rights record of each UN Member States every four years.
Priv-War was a collaborative project by seven European academic institutions, including the University of Sheffield in the UK, which ran from 2008 to 2011. It was coordinated and hosted by the European University Institute in Italy. The aim of Priv-War was to look at the use of private military companies and security companies in situations of armed conflict and examine national and international regulatory frameworks. The website provides the final recommendations of the Priv-War project, together with press releases and two reports produced during the project.
The Center for Transnational Litigation and Commercial Law is a centre of the New York University School of Law established to "advance the study and practice of international business transactions and the way to solve related disputes either through litigation or arbitration". The site has profiles of faculty and staff and details of courses and events hosted by the Center. Publications of the Center cover the following topics: private international law, international commercial law, international commercial arbitration and transnational civil litigation.
Website of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), an international NGO concerned with the promotion of arbitration, conciliation and other methods of resolving international commercial disputes. The ICCA contributes to preparation of the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules, and the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The main publication of the ICCA is the Yearbook Commercial Arbitration; contents lists and indexes from the Yearbook are available on the website.
This Library of Congress web page provides access to the 15 volume collection of the Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals selected and prepared by the United Nations War Crimes Commission. The trials took place between 1947 and 1949. This collection has representative cases featuring lower-ranking military officers and concentration camp administrators who were tried for war crimes and does not include the trials of most prominent Japanese and Nazi leaders that took place in Nuremberg and Tokyo.
Official website of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) which is one of the Indian Houses of Parliament. Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of Parliament and its members are not elected directly by the Indian people but by the Legislative Assemblies of the various states. The site has background information on the role and composition of Rajya Sabha, organisational information and profiles of members. Details of parliamentary business are provided in bulletins, journals and synopses of debates.
Official website of the Lok Sabha (House of the People) which is one of the Indian Houses of Parliament. Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people directly elected by the adult population who are eligible to vote. The website gives details of members, parliamentary business and the work of committees. Parliamentary debates back to 2004 can be viewed in full text along with parliamentary questions. The site provides an outline of how laws are passed in the Indian Parliament.
FedFlix, available from the Internet Archive, was a collaboration between the US National Technical Information Service and Public.Resource.Org. It provides free access to films from branches of the American government, including public information films and historic film clips and footage from the National Archives, the Department of War, the United States Forest Service, the Federal Civil Defense Administration and other departments. The site, which was archived in 2008, includes information on sources, copyright and technical details.
Website of China Patent Agent (H.K.) a firm of patent and trademark attorneys established in 1984 as a quasi government entity to provide legal services for overseas clients. The site provides information on Chinese patent laws which can be downloaded from the site in English. The laws cover patents, trademarks, copyright, layout design of integrated circuits, new plant varieties and cyber law (domain name disputes). There are also international treaties, case summaries, a selection of FAQs and forms to download. The site can be viewed in English, German, Japanese and Chinese.
This issue of ASIL Insight focuses on the Copenhagen Climate Change Accord. ASIL Insights is a free online newsletter produced by the American Society of International Law. ASIL Insights publishes pieces highlighting developments in international law, aiming to inform decision-makers, the legal profession and the public. The author of this issue is Daniel Bodansky who is the Emily and Ernest Woodruff Professor of International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law.
