NOTE: Due to the 2007-2008 renovation project, much of the Law Library book collection is in storage and inaccessible. Consult the online catalog to determine the availability of a particular title listed in these guides, or contact a reference librarian for assistance.
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I. Starting Places
There are several very useful guides to international criminal law research on the Web.
American Society of International Law’s Research Guide on International Criminal Law (www.asil.org/resource/crim1.htm) provides information on the major electronic sources for researching international and transnational crime, with links to tribunals, organizations, and agencies. Chapter VI (A) is devoted to war crimes and human rights violations. The ASIL Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL) database on International Criminal Law (www.eisil.org) includes links to primary documents and recommended web sites.
The Frederick K. Cox International Law Center War Crimes Research Portal (/www.law.case.edu/War-Crimes-Research-Portal/) contains links to international humanitarian law web sites along with bibliographies and research guides.
An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure (K5000 .I587 2007) covers substantive international criminal law, the institutions designed to enforce it, and the international law applicable to domestic prosecutions of international crimes.
LLRX.com (www.llrx.com/features/int_crim3.htm) provides a guide to basic research materials, in both print and electronic formats, and also includes a section specifically on crimes against humanity and human rights issues; unfortunately, it's a bit out-of-date.
NYU’s Guide to Foreign and International Legal Databases: International Criminal Law (www.law.nyu.edu/library/foreign_intl/criminal.html) provides links to international criminal law resources on the web.
The War Crimes Project at New England School of Law includes links to war crimes materials on the Internet. (/www.nesl.edu/research/warcrim.cfm)
For a list of basic reference sources for international law, see the Duke Law International Law Research Guide (www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/internationallaw.html)
II. United Nations Documents
You may be using a lot of UN documents in your research. Many documents, especially recent ones, are available on the UN Web site (www.un.org). You can find International Court of Justice documents on the ICJ Web site (www.icj-cij.org/) and in Westlaw (INT-ICJ database). The Duke Law UN Research Guide provides in-depth advice on finding UN documents (www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/un.html).
The UN International Law Web Page (www.un.org/law) includes links to UN tribunals (see below) and other UN agencies concerned with international law issues (such as the International Law Commission/www.un.org/law/ilc/index.htm).
III. Treaties
United Nations Treaty Collection (http://untreaty.un.org) includes both texts of treaties (United Nations Treaty Series) and status information, updated weekly (Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General).
The American Society of International Law Research Guide on International Criminal Law (www.asil.org/resource/crim1.htm) and LLRX.com (www.llrx.com/features/int_crim3.htm) include links to other international criminal law treaties. For more advice on treaty research, see the Duke Law Treaty Research Guide (http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/treaties.html).
International Criminal Law Deskbook (John P. Grant & J. Craig Barker, eds.) (K5013 .I58 2006) is a collection of core international criminal law instruments with commentary and an outline of their legislative histories.
IV. International Tribunals
Research Guides
Amy Burchfield, International Criminal Courts for the Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone: A Guide to Online and Print Resources (www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/International_Criminal_Courts.htm) and SMU's InternationalCriminal Courts Research Guide (http://library.law.smu.edu/guides/604.shtm) provide useful research advice.
International Criminal Court (www.icc-cpi.int/home.html)
The Coalition for the ICC Home Page on the International Criminal Court (www.iccnow.org) is a useful site maintained by an NGO. For background on this court, see Leila Nadya Sadat, The International Criminal Court Treaty Enters into Force (ASIL Insights, April 2002). (www.asil.org/insights/insigh86.htm). International Criminal Law Database & Commentary (www.iclklamberg.com) provides searchable texts of the case law from the International Criminal Court and a commentary to the Rome Statute. Eyes on the ICC (Periodicals)is an interdisciplinary journal that analyses issues related to the ICC
A list of international agreements regarding the surrender of U.S. citizens to the ICC (called Article 98 agreements, bilateral immunity agreements (BIAs), impunity agreements, or bilateral non-surrender agreements) is available at (www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/article_98.cfm).
Khmer Rouge Trial Task Force (www.cambodia.gov.kh/krt/).
There is now a web site for the Task Force for Cooperation with Foreign Legal Experts for the Preparation of the Proceedings for the Trial of Senior Khmer Rouge Leaders.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (www.ictr.org)
Tribunal Pénal International Pour Le Rwanda: Recueil Des Ordonnances, Decisions et Arrêts = International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Reports of Orders, Decisions and Judgements (KZ1201.A2 T75) reprints documents from 1995-97 in French and English. Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals (KZ6310 .A55 1999) includes the texts of selected decisions (including concurrences and dissents) from 1994- along with commentary. Basic Documents and Case Law, 1995-2000 is a CD-ROM that includes some documents not available on the web site (e.g. expert witness testimony). It is available in the Public Documents and Maps department in Perkins Library. ICTR documents (judgments, decisions, orders, and indictments) are also available on Westlaw (INT-ICTR database).
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (www.un.org/icty/index.html)
Judicial Reports: International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia = Recueils judiciaires: Tribunal pénal international pour l'ex-Yougoslavie (KZ1203 .I58) reports decisions from 1994-96. The ICTY law review, Judicial Supplement (Periodicals and (www.un.org/icty/publications-e/index.htm)), offers summaries of important decisions, orders and judgements. Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals (KZ6310 .A55 1999) includes the texts of selected decisions (including concurrences and dissents) from 1993- along with commentary. ICTY documents (including judgments, decisions, orders, indictments, and transcripts) are also available in Westlaw (INT-ICTY-ALL database).
Special Court of Sierra Leone (www.sc-sl.org/)
Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals (KZ6310 .A55 1999) includes the texts of selected decisions (including concurrences and dissents) from 2003- along with commentary. Digest of Jurisprudence of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, 2003-2005 (KZ1208.S53 L38 2007 ) is a collection of selected abstracts of decisions and orders.
Documents Relating to the Special Court for Sierra Leone (www.sierra-leone.org/documents-specialcourt.html) are also available from the website of the Sierra Leone government. There is a useful site for this court, Special Court.org (www.specialcourt.org/), maintained by the Sierra Leone office of the NGO No Peace Without Justice. For background on this court, see The Special Court for Sierra Leone (/www.asil.org/insights/insigh53.htm) (ASIL Insights, October 2000) by Michael P. Scharf.
The website of the Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT) (www.pict-pcti.org) has organized in one place news about the activities of international courts and tribunals, archives of case law, etc.
William A. Schabas, The UN International Criminal Tribunals : The Former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone (KZ1203.A12 S34 2006) is a guide to the law of these courts.
V. Current Awareness
AIDP Blog (www.aidpblog.org) is the official blog of the American National Section of L'Association Internationale de Droit Penal (The International Association of Penal Law).
The ASIL Insight (www.asil.org/insights.htm) series of short articles on current international law topics includes several essays on international criminal law.
Hague Justice Portal (http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/) provides access to the activities of the international courts and organizations located in The Hague, including the ICTY and the ICC.
International Enforcement Law Reporter (Periodicals and Lexis & Westlaw) is a monthly newsletter that includes coverage of issues such as international human rights and the law of war.
Jus in Bello (http://library.law.pace.edu/blogs/jib) is a blog from Pace Law School that focuses on the ICC and other international criminal tribunals, and the law of international criminal prosecution.
War Crimes Prosecution Watch (www.publicinternationallaw.org/warcrimeswatch/) is a bi-weekly e-newsletter that collects documents and articles concerning the investigation and prosecution of war crimes.
The Web sites of organizations such as Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org/) and Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org/) are also good sources of current information.
VI. Finding Books and Journal Articles
Of course, there are many books and articles on international criminal law. Bassiouni’s Introduction to International Criminal Law (K5015.4 B369 2003) provides a good overview. The LLRX.com research guide (www.llrx.com/features/int_crim3.htm) includes lists of major treatises on international criminal law in general, and on specific topics (e.g., crimes against humanities). You can find out if these books are in the Law Library (and most, if not all of them, will be) by searching the library catalog by author or title.
You can find more books searching with subject headings such as International Offenses, Crimes Against Humanity, Criminal Liability (International Law), Genocide, Human Rights and War Crimes. You can find articles in law reviews by searching with the same subject headings (and by keyword, author, and title as well) in the index LegalTrac (http://library.duke.edu/metasearch/db/id/DUK00130). This index is also available in Westlaw (http://lawschool.westlaw.com), where it’s called the LRI database (look under “Law Reviews, Bar Journals & Legal Periodicals" ❘ "Periodical Indexes”); the major advantage to searching in Westlaw is that there are hypertext links to the articles. The Index to Legal Periodicals (www.law.duke.edu/lib/lresources.html) includes links to the full text of some articles (choose “Legal Periodicals Full Text” to start your search).
Many useful databases for related disciplines, such as political science and international relations, are available from the Duke Libraries Research Databases page. (www.lib.duke.edu/texis/searchdb/ejdb/db)
Katherine Topulos
11/2007