Treaties - Human Rights Research - The Basics - LibGuides at University of San Francisco School of Law

Introduction - and More on Treaty Research

This page links to some of the most helpful online sources for finding human rights treaties, and for finding United States and multilateral treaties on any topic.

For a more places to find the texts of treaties, and for advice on treaty research, see the Zief Library's Treaty Research - Basic Resources guide.

Treaty Research - Basic Resources
A research guide on: finding multilateral and bilateral treaties and treaty status information

Human Rights Treaties

Excellent sources for human rights treaties include the following.

Core International Human Rights Instruments - UN OHCHR
Links to the core international human rights treaties, their optional protocols, and their monitoring treaty bodies.
OHCHR - International Human Rights Law Page
Links to the major UN human rights treaties and other instruments, from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Human Rights Treaties and Other Instruments
From the U. Minn. Human Rights Library. This site includes a topical list of human rights treaties, with links to full text from reliable sites.
Bayefsky.com - Guide to United Nations Human Rights Treaties
Bayefsky's documents by theme and documents by state features help pinpoint "concluding observations" and other documents on specific nations' practices. [Last updated in 2005. Try the UN's Universal Human Rights Index to find more recent UN treaty-body documents.]

United States Treaties

United States Treaties and Agreements Library - HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Exceptionally thorough collection of United States treaties from 1776 to the present. [For current USF students, faculty, and staff.]

Multilateral Treaties

Frequently-Cited Treaties - Univ. of Minn. Law Library
Links to reliable online versions of over 50 major multilateral treaties, plus citation information. [Free; no access restrictions.]
UN Treaty Collection
Full text of the United Nations Treaty Series and the League of Nations Treaty Series. Also includes Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General, for status information (signatories, parties, in-force dates, reservations, etc.) [Free; no access restrictions.]

United Nations Law Collection - HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Includes the United Nations Treaty Series, the League of Nations Treaty Series, and supporting materials. [For current USF students, faculty, and staff.]