International War Crimes Seminar
Research Session
January 9, 2008
Library Basics
Start with Scholar, the library catalog, to search for books and journals in the law library and university library. If the library does not have a source you need, you can request it through OhioLINK or inter-library loan (ILL). Please allow yourself enough time to receive these materials. Use the WorldCat database for the broadest book and periodicals search.
Some subject headings: aggression (international law); criminal liability (international); international offenses; war (international law); war crimes
Places to Start
Frederick K. Cox International Law War Crimes Research Portal (Case)
http://www.law.case.edu/war-crimes-research-portal/
EISIL http://www.eisil.org/
An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure (2007) - rush ordered for library – will be in Reference stacks.
War Crime Material (New England School of Law)
http://www.nesl.edu/research/warcrim.cfm
Treaties
· EISIL – International Criminal Law and other topical areas.
· International Humanitarian Law – Treaties and Documents (ICRC) http://www.icrc.org/ihl 100 treaties and other texts, including laws on the victims of war and the conduct of hostilities, plus the texts of the four Geneva conventions and their Commentaries.
· Websites of individual courts for foundational treaties.
· For more detailed information on treaties, see Treaty Research Guide (Georgetown).
Case Law & Court Rules
Case law and basic documents such as court rules are generally available at the website of the individual courts. Lexis and Westlaw also have databases for the ICTY and the ICTR.
If you need just a quick overview of a case from the ICTY or the ICTR, see ICTY Judgment Summaries and ICTR Judgment Summaries (American University – War Crimes Research Office).
Potential print sources for case law and other documents include International Legal Materials K9. N849, the Global War Crimes collection KZ1190 .G56, Annotated Leading Cases (for ICTR & ICTY) KZ6310 .A55 , Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (covers the Nuremberg Trial) D804.G42 I55 ,
United Nations Documentation
You will most like encounter many U.N. documents in your war crimes research – frequently in the footnotes of secondary sources. U.N. documents have a particular citation format. Some examples include:
A/RES/53/105 – Establishment of an international criminal court (GA Resolution)
S/RES/1126 – Establishment of ICTY (Security Council Resolution)
The United Nations website, especially the sites for the General Assembly and the Security Council will have many of the most important documents.
Another key resource for U.N. documents is ODS (Official Document System of the United Nations). It is most useful if you already have a document citation.
Foreign Law & Constitutions
The number #1 starting point for foreign law is the database Foreign Law Guide. Another solid online resource is WorldLII (World Legal Information Institute). The Library of Congress created the GLIN (Global Legal Information Network), which focuses heavily on Latin American countries.
Finally, if you can’t find the country you’re researching in any other source, the looseleaf set Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia will most likely have it. (See K530 .M62 on Base level). For more detailed information on foreign law research, see this Foreign & Comparative Law Research Guide (Georgetown).
One of the more reliable sources for world constitutions is Constitutions of the Countries of the World (updated regularly – K3157 .A2 B537). There are many Internet sources for constitutions, but be careful to check their currency. Some examples include:
· Constitution Finder http://confinder.richmond.edu/
· International Constitutional Law http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/
· National Constitutions http://www.constitution.org/cons/natlcons.htm
Journal Articles
In addition a full-text periodicals search on Lexis or Westlaw, try using a periodicals index. Two examples are:
· Wilson Web Index to Legal Periodicals; and
· Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
Both are available from the library’s Electronic Resources page.
Look beyond Lexis and Westlaw for full-text sources for articles. Try:
OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center - http://journals.ohiolink.edu/ejc/
JSTOR - http://www.jstor.org/
HeinOnline - http://heinonline.org/HOL/Welcome
Academic Search Complete - http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu/research/databases/index.html
Treatises and Key Authors
Ilias Bantekas, International Criminal Law (3rd ed.) K5165 .B35 2007
Ilias Bantekas, Principles of Direct and Superior Responsibility in International Humanitarian Law KZ6471 .B36 2002
M. Cherif Bassiouni, International Criminal Law (2nd ed.) K5165 .I58 1998 (updated regularly)
M. Cherif Bassiouni, The Legislative History of the International Criminal Court KZ6312 .L44 2005
Yoram Dinstein, The Conduct of Hostilities under the Law of International Armed Conflict KZ6385 .D56 2004
John R.W.D. Jones, International Criminal Practice KZ6310 .J66 2003
Covers ICTY, ICTR, ICC, SCSL, East Timor & Kosovo
Virginia Morris & Michael P. Scharf, An Insider’s Guide to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: A Documentary History and Analysis KZ1203 .A165 1995
William A. Schabas & Ramesh Thakur, Atrocities and International Accountability: Beyond Transitional Justice on order
William A. Schabas & Gideon Boas, International Criminal Law Developments in the Case Law of the ICTY KZ1203.A12 I5755 2003
Dinah Shelton, Remedies in International Human Rights Law (2nd ed.) K3240 .S53 2005
Additional and Related Titles
See general bibliography handout. This bibliography was originally compiled by Patrick S. O’Donnell, of Santa Barbara City College (2006). It included a much broader subject range and was considered a “research canon” for international law. I’ve edited the bibliography to include only international law generally, international criminal law, humanitarian law, human rights, etc. It was posted initially to PrawfsBlawg on Oct. 10, 2006.
Research Guides
International Criminal Law (Duke)
http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/intclaw.html
ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: International Criminal Law
http://www.asil.org/resource/crim1.htm
GlobaLex: International Criminal Courts for the Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone: A Guide to Online and Print Resources
http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/International_Criminal_Courts.htm
LLRX: International Criminal Law: A Selective Resource Guide
http://www.llrx.com/features/int_crim.htm
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Columbia)
http://www.law.columbia.edu/library/Research_Guides/internat_law/icty
Annette Demers, Women and War: A Bibliography of Recent Works, 34 Int’l J. Legal Info. 98 (Spring 2006)
Citation Help
Consult the Bluebook (18th edition) Rule 21 on international materials. For foreign law, see Table 2 on foreign jurisdictions.
For help deciphering abbreviations in footnotes, try the online Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations. http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/
Two places to check for citation suggestions on treaties and some other materials are:
· Frequently-Cited Treaties and Other International Instruments (UofMinn)
http://www.law.umn.edu/library/tools/pathfinders/most-cited.html
· EISIL – More Information (Legal Citation)
for example: Rome Statute - http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=656533733&id=625&t=link_details&cat=500
Additional Websites of Interest
· Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT) http://www.pict-pcti.org/
· Cambodian Genocide Program (Yale) http://www.yale.edu/cgp/
· Avalon Project (Yale) http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
· International Criminal Tribunals (UofMinn) http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/intrib.html
Research Services & Research Consultations
Research services librarians are there to assist you any basic research question. They have extensive hours:
Monday – Thursday 9am – 8pm
Friday 9am – 6pm
Saturday 9am – 2pm
You can schedule a personal research consultation with me to discuss your memorandum. Contact me by email (), phone 687-6885 or stop by my office in the library, near the Information Services Desk.
Prepared by Amy Burchfield
January, 2008
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