ICC and INTERPOL
The International Criminal Court (ICC) and INTERPOL are independent organizations and not part of the United Nations. However, both the ICC and INTERPOL work closely with the UN.
The ICC also sits at the Hague and provides a legal venue for crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other international acts of aggression.
INTERPOL is headquartered in Lyon, France, and provides a way for national police agencies to cooperate in combating global criminal activity.
- International Criminal CourtOfficial website of the ICC.
- ICC Article 98 Agreements Research Guidefrom Georgetown Law Library.
- INTERPOLOfficial website of INTERPOL.
General International Law Research
International law isn't confined to the United Nations -- if your research goes beyond the UN, you might find the following general law resources helpful:
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowOne of the premier sources for legal and political information. Especially relevant are the United Nations Law Collection, Foreign and International Law Resources Database, the History of International Law Collection, and World Constitutions.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowProvides access to hundreds of law reviews and court cases. Use Search by Content Type to select relevant international law resources.
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) decides questions of international law and adjucates disputes between member states. More information about the Court:
- ICJ website
- Members of the Court
- Docket (List of Cases)
- Judgments, advisory opinions, and orders of the Court (chronological)
- Summaries of Judgments, Advisory Opnions, and Orders (from HeinOnline)
The ICJ Yearbook (1946-2008, HeinOnline) has summaries of pleadings and cases decided by the Court.
Copies of pleadings and oral arguments before the Court are available in print at GU's Wolff International Law Library in downtown DC.
Some ICJ judgements are also online in LexisNexis -- European Union, Commonwealth, and Foreign Nations content set. Select "International Legal Materials" from the list of sources.
International Law
Beyond the ICJ, the UN also discusses and attempt to codify international law. Several international tribunals have also been convened under the auspices of the UN.
- UN International Law Topic Page -- a key resource for the UN and international law, this page has links to all the current UN tribunals and UN bodies dealing with international law.
- United Nations Rule of Law -- a high-level UN commission drawing from several other UN organizations to advance legal norms. A good source of UN news on legal topics.
- UN International Law Commission -- a panel of recognized experts, drawn from member states, that attempts to codify international law on various topics.
- UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) -- a panel of experts discussing and codifying international trade law.
- GA Sixth Committee (Legal) -- a forum for member states to discuss legal issues.
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
- UN Special Court for Sierra Leone
- UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon
- UN Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia
Other organizations that have international judicial or "judicial-like" proceedings include:
- World Trade Organization (WTO) -- member states can lodge formal complaints about unfair trading practices by another country using the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body.
- International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea -- adjucates maritime disputes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
UN and Treaties
In addition to UN documents that are binding on member states (e.g. Security Council resolutions), the UN also serves as a repository for bi-lateral or multi-lateral treaties.
- United Nations Treaty Collection This link opens in a new windowContains full-text of the United Nations Treaty Series, the current status of the Multilateral Treaties deposited with the Secretary-General, and texts of recently deposited multilateral treaties. Languages are English and French, and the original language of the treaty.
- UN Treaty Series Cumulative IndexUnited Nations Treaty Collection.
- UN Office of Disarmament - TreatiesSince 1978 the United Nations has been publishing the status of multilateral Arms Regulation and Disarmament Agreements, presenting data on signatories, parties of relevant agreements and the texts of the agreements themselves.
- HeinOnline World Treaty LibraryA compiliation of the UN Treaty Collection, League of Nations Treaty Series, U.S. Treaties, and major historical treaties. Allows cross-searching across all collections.
