In our contemporary global landscape, legal professionals are frequently drawn into the intricate realm of foreign jurisdictions and international legal issues. This engagement stems from diverse motives, including comparative legal analyses, cross-border transactions, and involvement in international litigation. As you embark on this expedition, you are met with pivotal questions: What research avenues are at your disposal? How do you navigate language barriers? What time constraints do you face?

Can you visit official government and judicial websites of the foreign jurisdiction to access primary legal materials, such as statutes, regulations, and court decisions or do you have to head to a law library or a subscription database for this information? 

This is often a challenge. If you need current events you may want to explore newspapers, current articles and blogs. 

Newpaper articles are often great resources. Here is a link to a news portal that offers access to domestic and international news. JURIST (http://jurist.org) is a web-based legal news and real-time legal research service powered by a mostly-volunteer team of over 60 part-time law student reporters, editors and Web developers led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 

The search "war crimes" in this portal retrieved several articles.

Never procrastinate. Start researching today. Just for fun check out this video.

Zotero will help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work — in the web browser itself: http://www.zotero.org/

Do not try to reinvent the wheel! Seek out research guides and resources provided by academic institutions, law libraries, and legal experts. These guides can offer valuable insights. 

Foreign law guides from Library of Congress staff members.

Public International Law: A Beginner's Guide

Researching Treaties and International Agreements

War Crime Tribunals Guide- Legal Research Strategies and Tips - Tove Klovning

Here is a direct link:

Access Limited to Members of the WU Law School Community:

Foreign law resources: 

vLex European Package Core plus France, Italy and Spain Premium Cores, EU Core (Eurolex), and Portugal Premium Core

allAfrica.com The largest electronic distributor of African news and information worldwide, posting over 1000 stories daily in English and French. Offers a diversity of multi-lingual streaming programming and over 900,000 articles dating from 1997.

Cambridge Journals Online Index of journals published by Cambridge University Press. The Libraries subscribe to about 200 titles. Features include Quick Search, Advanced Search, and Citation Search (enter all or part of a citation), or Browse by Title, Subject, Free/Open Access Content, and Subscribed Content.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service Electronic Index (1975 - 1996) An index to the FBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government covering political, economic, scientific, and cultural issues and events throughout the world. Include translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world.

China Academic Journals Database (Series F, G, H, J) (1994 - ) Alternate Name(s) CNKI A periodical database with access to numerous Chinese language periodicals published in or after 1994. A PDF viewer with a Chinese simplified language pack is required to view articles. Access to Series J is 1994 - 2015.

PKU LAW (Chinese Site) Chinese primary and secondary legal sources in Chinese & English (cases, laws, regulations, articles).

PKU Law (China Law Info) (English Site) Chinese primary and secondary legal sources in Chinese & English (cases, laws, regulations, articles); Database does not work will with Firefox.

HeinOnline offers access to journals and other relevant foreign and comparative law resources and is worth checking out. 

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Indexing and full text of over 1,025 legal journals, law reviews, yearbooks, institutes, statutes, bar association publications, university publications, and government publications.

Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective 1908-1981 Indexes legal periodicals published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand between 1908 and 1981.

Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law, 1600-1926 Consists of treatises and monographs handling such subject areas of International Law, Comparative Law, Foreign Law and some others.

International law: 

CASES:

World Trials Library This collection includes more than 3,200 trials including complete sets of American State Trials, Howell's State Trials, and the Nuremburg Trials. It also includes famous trials from Philadelphia's Jenkins Law Library, Cornell University, and the University of Missouri-Columbia's trials collections. It contains trial transcripts, critical court documents, and trial-related resources such as monographs which analyze and debate the decisions of famous trials, as well as biographies of many of the greatest trial lawyers in history.

Oxford Reports on International Law (ORIL) reports on international courts, domestic courts and ad hoc tribunals. Case reports contain the full text of each decision, headnote, as well as analytical commentary and English translations of a number of key non-English decisions. With reports on over 4,000 cases, ORIL is now rightly regarded as a must-have resource for the international law researcher. 

          Case law IN ORIL  is divided into 5 modules:

          Oxford Reports on International Law in Domestic Courts

          Oxford Reports on International Criminal Law

          Oxford Reports on International Human Rights Law,

          Oxford Reports on International Investment Claims

          Oxford Reports on International Courts of General Jurisdiction

ORIL integrates important decisions on public international law from international courts and tribunals, domestic courts and ad hoc tribunals. Our subscription includes the International Investment Claims, International Human Rights Law, International Criminal Law, and the International Law in Domestic Courts modules. Case reports with headnotes, summary of case facts and judicial holdings, analytical commentary from scholarly experts, translations of non-English judgments, and a list of cases and instruments cited are included with the opinions. There are also links to related Oxford online content via the Oxford Law Citator. Access Limited to Members of the WU Law School Community

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law Contains peer-reviewed articles on every aspect of international law. This definitive reference work contains both the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law and the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law. Provides cutting edge research on both the substance and the procedure of international law and includes information on issues, procedures, instruments, institutions, and decisions within international law, covering subjects from air law and the law of outer space, to the use of force, war, peace, and neutrality. Includes links to primary documents and other commentary through the Oxford Law Citator.

1. Index to Legal Periodicals(1980-current) Indexing of over 1,025 legal journals, law reviews, yearbooks, institutes, statutes, bar association publications, university publications, and government publications. Includes full-text of over 325 select periodicals
2. Index to Legal Periodicals(retro 1908-1981) Indexes legal periodicals published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand between 1908 and 1981
3. Index to foreign legal periodicals IIndexes articles from more than 450 legal periodicals published worldwide, including journals, essay collections, festschrifts, and congress reports
4. HeinOnline contains Law Journal Library, Foreign & International Law Resources Database, U.S. Federal Legislative History and Presidential Libraries, English Reports Library, Legal Classics Library and more.  Includes Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, indexing worldwide journals, essay collections, and festschrifts. 

You might also be able to locate materials on Westlaw and Lexis. You may locate relevant sources in. ProQuest Congressional Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information. Includes: CIS Legislative Histories (public laws back to 1969), Congressional publications (1817 - ), testimony from Congressional hearings (1824-), Congressional Record and Federal Register, U.S. Serial Set, 1789-1969, Serial Set Maps, 1789-1969, and more. 

The UN has been involved with several tribunals established to bring justice to victims of international crimes. The Security Council established two ad hoc tribunals, the ICTY and the ICTR. The UN has also been involved in various ways with the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), and others. While transitional justice and rule of law continue to be important to the UN, it is likely that the International Criminal Court will handle most situations that arise in the future. There are many secondary sources of information that can support research on various aspects of the work of the tribunals.

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

Formal name: International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991.

• International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia website
• Established by Security Council resolution 827 (1993) of 25 May 1993
• Located in The Hague, The Netherlands

Basic Documents

• The Legal Library portion of the ICTY website contains links to all basic documents as well as judgements
• Statute of the Tribunal
  • Original version annexed to document S/25704 + Corr.1
  • Amended by various Security Council resolutions over the years
  • Current version of the Statute, as well as previous versions, is posted on the Tribunal's website
• Rules of Procedure and Evidence

Reports and Publications

• Annual Reports to General Assembly and Security Council (list of symbols)
  • The full text of the annual reports can be accessed through the Tribunal's website, as well as the ODS and UNBISnet
• The Yearbook provides information about the work, members (with biographies), jurisdiction, organization, functioning and activities of the Tribunal in a given year
  • Includes a bibliography of publications relating to the Tribunal released during the reporting period
• The Judicial Reports reprint all public indictments as well as the decisions and judgements 

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)

Formal name: International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan Citizens Responsible for Genocide and Other Such Violations Committed in the Territory of Neighbouring States between 1 January and 31 December 1994.

• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda  website
• Established by Security Council resolution 955 (1994) of 8 November 1994
• Located in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania

Basic Documents

• Statute
  • Current version on website
  • Original annexed to Security Council resolution 955 (1994)
  • Amended by several subsequent Security Council resolutions
• Rules of Procedure and Evidence

Reports and Publications

• Annual reports to General Assembly and Security Council (list of symbols)
• Detailed information about cases is available on the website

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UNMICT)

The work of the ICTY and ICTR will soon be completed, however some tasks, including archiving of the case materials, will be carried out by a new body, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.  This body calls itself the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (UNMICT).

• UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals website
• Established by Security Council resolution 1966 (2010)
• Located in Arusha and The Hague
• Reports to the Security Council (list of symbols)

Because this is a new body, and the Tribunals are still completing their work, it is not yet clear how much of the ICTY and ICTR website functions will be carried out by the Residual Mechanism.

Khmer Rouge Tribunal documents can be located via this link: http://www.yale.edu/cgp/news.html

Source: United Nations Dag Hammerskjold's research guide on international law. 

The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute of Washington University School of Law concluded a Co-Operation Agreement with the International Criminal Court in September 2009. Under the Co-Operation Agreement, the Harris Institute is responsible for collecting and uploading documents for the "National Jurisdictions" and "National Cases Involving Core International Crimes" folders in the ICC Legal Tools database.

These days a lot of international law materials are readily available for free via the internet. However, if you choose this option then you are forced to authenticate your sources and not everything is available online or via the internet.  When researching complex legal issue often a combination of print and online resources provide the best outcome. 

This library has a huge international law print collection and provides access to premier subscription databases. The library catalog is your friend 

Examples of LC subject headings you may be interested in when exploring international law issues:

Hint: search by subject heading and the sort by most recent book that has been published.

International Criminal Court.

International criminal courts -- Cases.

International law -- Yugoslavia -- Cases.

Crimes against humanity

International crimes Criminal liability (International law)

Genocide

Political atrocities

Human rights

Crimes against humanity

Human rights and crimes against humanity.

Still not satisfied or cannot locate it in our library? Feel free to search for sources via WorldCat/FirstSearch via an interlibrary loan request.

Did you locate a title that seems interesting – but you are in a time crunch? Try searching for the same call number in our catalog. Use the electronic browse feature in the catalog to identify a book of interest to your.

Why? Your challenge as a student: Time. Why wait to have a book interlibrary loaned to you when you can find a book with a similar content in our library?

Experienced researchers will from time to time  experience that  not all trial documents are available online nor in all of the print sources.

 For example, in the ICTR case of Alfred Musema (ICTR-96-13), the original indictment charged Musema with "genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide" and other charges. The amended indictment charged him with "genocide, or in the alternative, complicity in genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide" and other charges. The charge of complicity in genocide was omitted from the original indictment.

The ICTR website only provides the amended indictment. The print source Reports of Orders, Decisions and Judgements (ICTR) likewise only includes the amended indictment (although it is not labeled "amended").

The only sources that reprint the original indictment (the indictment not including the complicity in genocide charge) are the Global War Crimes Tribunal Collection  KZ1190.G56. The bottom line: for the most thorough research, be sure to compare online and print availability of e.g.  ICTR and ICTY documents!

Source: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/library/research/guides/WarCrimes.cfm

Subscribe to newsletters, journals, or websites that provide updates on international legal developments.

Oxford Law Reports Citator: 

The law school's subscription database Oxford International Law Reports has a citator. 

Use the Citator to:

• find a definitive citation for a piece of legal information

• find other things that discuss or mention something (e.g. a case, or a legislative or treaty provision)

• find other items in the same subject area or from the same jurisdiction, and

• link onwards to reliable full text of relevant sources, on OUP services or the wider web

JustCite

JustCite is a citator allows for searching the case law, statutory and regulatory law of the United Kingdom, and also offers coverage of Ireland, the European Union, parts of the Caribbean, and Singapore.

So are blogs: Here are a couple of blogs that you may want to check in with: 

• The Opinio Juris, http://opiniojuris.org/

• The International law in brief blog:  http://www.asil.org/blogs/ilib 

• The Blog of the European Journal see http://www.ejiltalk.org/ 

• Washington University School of Law  Harris Institute's blog Lex Lege, Lex Lata.  See  http://law.wustl.edu/harris/lexlata/

 Tove Klovning is the  law school's  Foreign/Comparative and International Law Librarian and Lecturer in Law. She oversees foreign, comparative, and international law services at the law library and teaches Legal Research Methodologies I & II. She often guest lecturers on legal research methodology strategies in seminar classes and assists researchers with legal research questions relating to foreign law, comparative law, and international law, as well as questions related to the American legal system. She has written several research guides on American, international, and foreign legal issues. Klovning has taught in the Global Legal Studies Master Program at the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal, and has been a speaker at both U.S. and international conferences. Before joining the law school, Klovning worked at the Albert Jenner, Jr. Law Library of the University of Illinois, assisted as a Visiting Research Scholar in the Ombudsman Office at Southern Illinois University, Illinois, was a law clerk intern for the Bergen Circuit Court in Norway, and a legal caseworker in Bergen, Norway. Klovning  has resided in various countries across Asia and is multilingual. She is an associate member of the American Bar Association.

Phone: (314) 935-6443
Email: tklovni@wustl.edu