International Law and Organization

INTERNATIONAL LAW

• Foreign and International Law Web

  Maintained by Washburn University School of Law, site offers links to foreign countries, international treaties, the UN, topical material, listserv archives, electronic journals, IOs, and embassies around the world. Foreign laws by subject include links to constitutions from around the world, criminal justice, and environmental laws. Site also has well-developed links by region. Excellent, though unannotated, starting point for the basics of domestic and international laws around the world.

  
  

• Yale Law School International Law Page

  Excellent jumping-off point to country-by-country domestic laws, international laws, and international organizations. Links to international environmental law, though unannotated, are well developed, with links to many other general collections as well. Well organized.

  
  

• International Trade Law Monitor

  Comprehensive site, focused on various topics related to international trade law. Site is divided by categories that include links to international organizations related to international trade law and other trade- and IR-related sites. Some links are annotated. Site has particularly good finance and banking-related sites (in the basic trade law area), and full texts to conventions and other documents. Strongest part of site is subject table of contents. Site also has a useful set of search engines. Maintained by Ralph Amissah at the Law Faculty of the University of Tromso, Norway.

  
  

• Multilaterals Project

  Maintained by Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Comprehensive site offering links to multilateral conventions, treaties, miscellaneous historical documents, and lists of links to other international law sites with online collections. Topics covered range from human rights to commerce and peace and security. Site includes collections of historical documents for useful reference to such texts as the Treaty of Westphalia and the Covenant of the League of Nations. Useful resource, particularly for online reference to UN treaty documents.

  
  

• Minority Rights Database

  Maintained at the University of East London, UEL Minority Rights Database is a legal database containing international documents on minorities, judicial decisions by international fora on minority rights in different states, a recommended reading list on the area of minority rights, and some information on the related topics of self-determination, equality, and discrimination under international law, as well as a set of links to other related Web sites. Although links are not annotated, and topic of site is narrowly focused, it does contain useful links to UN declarations and resolutions.

  
  

• The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library--Treaties and International Law

  Basic and lengthy list compiled by the U.S. House of Representatives. Site has few graphics, no annotation, and only alphabetical organization. Simply a long and comprehensive list to other collections and related sites. One of the drawbacks is that the site includes actual treaties alongside other compilations and treaties from widely different subject areas and historical periods. Thus an actual text of the Paris Treaty follows not long after the Ontario International Fuel Tax Agreement Implementation Act of 1996. Nonetheless, a good reference site.

  
  

• The WWW Virtual Library: Law

  Maintained by University School of Law, Bloomington Indiana, site has links to general law-related sites. Foreign and international law category includes a comprehensive annotated list of links to other clearinghouses and issue-area sites, journals, organizations, and firms. Comprehensive and well organized.

  
  

• Willamette University College of Law Library Resources in International Law

  Site offers lengthy set of annotated links to international organizations, treaties and other international agreements, international human and indigenous rights, foreign relations, foreign constitutions, international law journals from around the world, international law organizations, and international law resources at other Web sites. Overall, a useful reference.

  
  

• Yale Law School Avalon Project of Historical Documents

  Excellent source of original text historical documents, organized both alphabetically and by century from the 18th to the 20th century. Site offers quick reference to online documents, such as the Treaty of Ghent, the Jefferson Papers (which in and of itself is extensive), and the Communist Manifesto. Many of the online documents have embedded links to supporting documents.

  
  

• IANWeb Resources: International Law

  Part of the IANWeb general collection, site offers good annotation and excellent explanatory icons for each link. Although site is not enormously comprehensive, it is a good jumping-off point because of the annotations and icons.

  
  

• The University of Western Australia's Public International Law site

  Useful megadirectory, divided into several IR and international law-related categories. Each of the subjects (UN, war and peace, International Court of Justice, nuclear, Middle East, treaties, human rights, indigenous peoples, women, environmental issues, international trade law, etc.) contains annotated links to other related sites. Annotations and organization are the most impressive parts of what is a useful starting point. One of the most comprehensive and economically organized sites I have yet to encounter on the Web.

  
  

• Kluwer Law International Law Center

  Useful site for up-to-date information on international law-related news and developments. Site has several feature articles on international law, an international lawyers' newsletter, and excellent links to other sites and databases, statutes, and treaties. Newsletter in particular makes the site a good reference to up-to-date information on international law.

  
  

• International Humanitarian Law

  Maintained by the International Committee of the Red Cross, site has some basic texts, background information on international humanitarian law, and links and information on various issue-areas, such as land mines and laser weapons, that include relevant legal texts and full-text journal articles. Good reference source. Most articles are drawn from the International Review of the Red Cross. Site also features good annotated bibliography of works related to international humanitarian international law.

  
  

• Cyberspace Law Journal

  Megadirectory for just about everything relating to law in cyberspace, including directories and resource centers, periodical materials, organizations, related law sites, and news groups. Some of the links have minor annotations, which are helpful, and the site is generally well organized. Has links to other related sites on the Internet.

  
  

• International Economic Law Links

  Formerly Joel Trachman's International Economic Law links, this is a jumping-off site for links to various sites related to international economic law. No annotations, and the organization is a simple long list subdivided into two categories: general and international economic law. Simple organization and lack of annotation limit the siteÕs utility as a jumping-off point, but it is a good reference point nonetheless.

  
  

• Surfing the International Law Net and Other Research Ventures

  Basic but fairly comprehensive set of links to major Web sites on international organizations, books, databases, library catalogs, journals and periodical indexes, electronic discussion groups, archives, news sources, and research guides and directories in the international law area. Links are not annotated. However, international news sources are comprehensive.

  
  

• International Trade and Law Links

  Compiled by Braumiller and Rodriguez, Attorneys. Megalist of sites on topics such as general comprehensive international law links, cyberlaw links, universities, international law collections, U.S. government agencies, the trading floor, NAFTA, Asia links, dictionaries, and directories. Site is comprehensive, with some minor annotations. The Asia list of links is impressive for resources on Asian international trade and law. Good jumping-off point.

  
  

• Universitá di Bologna Facoltà di Scienze Politiche Research Guide to International Law on the Internet

  Impressive, incredibly detailed site with annotated links to categories such as starting points, United Nations, getting in contact with, human rights, air and space law, law of the sea, international criminal law, peacekeeping, international organizations, European Union, and many others. Site is well organized, with excellent annotations. Undoubtedly, one of the better jumping- off points for international law resources on the Web.

  
  

• International Law Page

  Maintained by Roel Hans Bethlehem. Links to categories such as international law, other law, political science, education, and search engines. General categories divided into subcategories with corresponding links. Some categories are less extensive than others (particularly the non-law links), but the international law category has extensive sublinks and annotated links. The overall organization of the site is clear.

THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FIELD

• Global Policy Forum

  Site contains discussions, information, debates, and resources on all topics surrounding the UN, including such issues as the UN financial crisis, debates about reforming the Security Council, economic and social policy issues, and links to other major issues. Site is well laid out and offers a good source for links and data to a wide range of topics related to the UN and its associated activities. Invaluable starting point for any issue or topic having to do with the UN.

  
  

• UN News

  Good source from the official site for up-to-date activities and information surrounding the UN. Site includes fact sheets, newsletters, and summaries of daily activities of different agencies.

  
  

• University of Toronto G-7 Information Centre

  Site collects information and links related to all G-7 activities. Links to documents, delegations, communiques, political declarations, other official releases, documents released by national delegations at summits, transcripts of summit news conferences, a chronology of all official G-7 meetings, and links by issue-area to G-7 topics. Extensive resource collection of some of the informal meetings, G-7 bibliographies, and links to other G-7 sites on the Web.

  
  

• United Nations' Scholars Workstation at Yale University

  Maintained by the Yale University Library and the Social Science Statistical Laboratory. Collection of texts, data sets, maps, and links to print and electronic information. Includes such topics as disarmament, economic and social development, environment, human rights, international relations, international trade, peacekeeping, population, and demography. Contains links to numeric data for UN-related activities, including datasets on conflict and war, voting records at the UN, and also links to other databases. Good source for maps of, for example, contemporary UN peacekeeping activities. Contains extensive bibliographies and links to other bibliographies and publications. Good access point for official UN information by agency, research topic, and geographic area. First-rate Web site and invaluable starting point for anything concerning the UN.

  
  

• The Commission on Global Governance

  Site offers access to the full text of the commission's publication, Our Global Neighborhood, as well as articles and speeches by commission associates. Fairly good list of annotated links to other related sites.

  
  

• Academic Council on the United Nations System

  Located at Brown University's Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, the Academic Council of the United Nations System is a good jumping-off point for anything IO related. Site has downloadable newsletters, extensive syllabi collections, excellent online essays, and extensive links to general IR resources. Good repository of documents of interest to UN and IO scholars, including the Charter of the UN, the Covenant of the League of Nations, and many other international treaties and documents. A listserv offers active discussions associated with this site. Good starting point for anyone working in the IO field.

  
  

• International Organization Network

  Homepage of the IO subsection of the ISA, this page, maintained by Kurt Mills, offers a jumping-off point for IR resources on the Internet, some IO-related syllabi, an IO section directory, and the IO section newsletter. Site is currently under construction and so will likely improve with time.

FORMAL INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

• Geneva International

  Extensive database of contact information for IOs and NGOs that have a presence in Geneva. Well organized by keyword, subject area, and organization type. Gives an activity summary of the organization, some Geneva contact information, and a local map of the organization's location in Geneva. Has links to approximately 52 UN organizations, 15 UN agencies, 9 IGOs, 6 organizations with special status, and 158 NGOs. well organized, with a particularly useful theme category that is helpful for finding NGOs and UN organizations that work within a particular issue-area.

  
  

• Union of International Associations' International Organization Web Sites

  Good starting point for finding the Web presence of virtually any international organization. Offers alphabetically organized links to IOs, links to publications, other resource sites, and a guide to acronyms and abbreviations. Comprehensive.

  
  

• International Court of Justice

  Created as a project of the Cornell Law Library with the documentary assistance of the International Court of Justice. Offers links to the full text of official judgments, advisory opinions, and orders, which are received directly from the International Court of Justice. Decisions are published in English and French, which are the two official languages of the Court. Invaluable reference for ICJ information and documents.

  
  

• Official Web Site Locator for the United Nations System

  Major official jumping-off point for Web sites of the UN system. Provides alphabetical index of all organizations, including those without Web links. Offers access by official classification and provides a set of links to non-UN IOs.

  
  

• Central Intelligence Agency's WorldFactbook Appendix A and C

  Appendix A provides acronyms of major IOs. Appendix C provides useful and comprehensive listing of IOs that includes address, telephone numbers, members, among other items. The next logical step would be to hyperlink those with a Web site, but it is still a useful resource as it stands.

  
  

• International Organizations, Northwestern University

  Bare structure, with quick jumps by alphabetical organization to comprehensive set of IOs. Good jumping-off point because it is basic, offers some useful subdivisions for some of the major IOs (the World Bank site has subdivisions that include publications and press releases, and various subdivisions of the bank that have Web or gopher addresses), and is comprehensive.

  
  

• UC Berkeley Library Web: International Organizations

  Similar to the Northwestern site, though organized with a higher graphic interface and with a subject, as opposed to alphabetical organization. Includes links to some of the major IOs, development banks, G-7 information, and GATT information. Good jumping-off point.

  
  

• Yahoo Government, International Organizations

  Although Yahoo sites can be quite large, they can also be eclectic, which is both good and bad--good because there might be some unexpected site, and bad because there are annotations-- but the organization is simply alphabetical.

  
  

• The United Nations Homepage

  The UN has apparently committed to exploiting the Web to its fullest, as this site attests. Site is well organized, deep, and contains a great deal of useful information about the UN and all of its past and present activities. Includes links to recent UN conferences, documentation on UN events, and links to all of the major UN agencies and related organizations, particularly from a good clickable map that is located at: http://www.un.org/search/map/.

  The UN Dag Hammarskjold Library offers some online bibliographic databases on various topics that could be useful. Cyberschool Bus is primarily geared to high school applications, but could possibly be useful for entry-level courses. Links to databases on treaties, reports, and a wide variety of documents available online. Also links to many UN-related NGOs at this site. Check out the UN office in Geneva at http://www.unog.ch/, which has some overlapping links but also some distinct ones.