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Lund University

Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: IHRL

The Raoul Wallenberg Institute's Guide to Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Introduction

 

Presentation of the contents

  • If you are missing relevant literature-send an e-mail to library@rwi.lu.se
  • Zotero Reference Manager. How to store your findings and how to add footnotes and reference list into your writings (Word)
  • Different ways of finding UN documents using UN-databases

 

Zotero- Your personal research assistant

A reference manager. How to store your findings and  add footnotes and reference list into your writings (Word)

Zotero

Download Zotero and the Connector 

Zotero

Zotero Documentation

Zotero Style Repository - OSCOLA

Which style shall I choose for my references?

In LubSearch and in Libris several styles are available. 'Citation'.
Smaller differences. Be consistent!

The style recommended by the Faculty of Law is  OSCOLA, Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities

Examples of styles:

APA

Adams, R., & Loideáin, N. (2019). Addressing indirect discrimination and gender stereotypes in AI virtual personal assistants: the role of international human rights law, Cambridge International Law Journal, 8(2), 241-257
Harvard
Adams, R., and Loideáin, N. (2019). Addressing indirect discrimination and gender stereotypes in AI virtual personal assistants: the role of international human rights law. Cambridge International Law Journal 8, 2, 241-257

Referencing and citations - OSCOLA: Home

Reference Guide

Information retrieval . Guide to UN Databases

Welcome to contact me if you can't find what you are looking for! Go to the Raoul Wallenberg Library to find out more. Hopefully, this guide will help you and save time to reading and understanding and not for searching!/Lena

UNITED NATIONS
Guides

The UN Documentation Research Guide presents an overview of selected UN documents, publications, databases, and websites.

United Nations documentation reflects the complexity of the UN as an organization. In the Table of Contents, you will find the pattern of the usage of symbol numbers.

Research Guide 

Research Guide on Human Rights

Databases- Find documents from UN: General Assembly, Security Council, ECOSOC

UN Digital Library

What is ODS

  • Full-text database of official UN documents
    Available to the general public
    Resolutions going back to 1946 (Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social Council)

What can be found using ODS?

  • Major Security Council documents (i.e resolutions) going back to 1946 and General Assembly documents going back to 1985 and documents from ECOSOC
  • Draft resolutions
  • Meeting records (PVs and SRs) – may come sometime later reports

Limitations in ODS

  • ODS uses controlled language (UNBIS thesaurus) and not necessarily those you normally use.
  • You might key in “children’s rights” but the database is using the “rights of the child”
  • Do not allow search after bodies (Security Council, Human Rights Council). Go to the websites for each entity.
  • Useful when searching for countries

Some examples:
Use the format to fille in your query to retrieve the document(s)
Word in title-box:
Transitional justice 

Full text box 
Ex: Anaïs MARIN (Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus)

To find the documents with the symbol numbers

A/HRC/RES/44/19
E/CN.4/2003/45
CAT/C/CHN/4 
CAT/C/CHN/CO/4

When citing it is enough to use the symbol number but it is a help for the reader to have the title of the document as well. But to retrieve the correct document the symbol number is enough.

Finding documents related to human rights

Charter Bases Bodies: 

Charter Bases Bodies Database
Tick the different options
Ex: You are looking for a summary Record from Armenia
Tick these words

Human Rights Council+ Summery Record+Armenia

A/HRC/41/46

Treaty Bases Bodies:

UN Treaty Body database

Tick the different options

Ex:
Africa+Ethiopia+CCPR

UNOFFICIAL DATABASES

United Nations Human Rights Treaties

United Nations Human Rights Treaties by Anna Bayefsky
No updates after 2011! 
The website is userfriendly and gives you a quick understanding of the structure of the treaty bodies documentation

Human Rights Library-Minnesota University