|
On case law and developments in human rights law of practical use to lawyers, judges and human rights NGOs and others
attempting to protect rights through law. One of the chief barriers to effective implementation of human rights is a lack
of access to tools and resources needed by human rights advocates. INTERIGHTS aims to respond to this need through a
quarterly Bulletin, which includes summaries of all international and regional decisions, a Commonwealth Human Rights Law
Digest and Database, this Website and other occasional publications.
Back to Annual Review Contents
INTERIGHTS' BULLETIN
INTERIGHTS' quarterly Bulletin aims to keep human rights practitioners abreast of developments in human rights law.
Each issue carries articles and additional information on selected topics, short items on new developments in international
human rights law and practice, reviews of recent publications, notes on interesting developments in the domestic application
of international human rights standards from around the world and news about INTERIGHTS' activities. An extensive central
section - 'International Law Reports' - carries summaries of decisions of international and regional tribunals applying human
rights standards. Issues addressed include restitution and compensation for property in post-communist Europe, indigenous
peoples� property rights, customary law and women�s inheritance rights, and the implementation of economic, social and cultural
rights in practice.
Click here for information on editions of the Bulletin in French
and Russian
COMMONWEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS CASE LAW PROJECT
The Commonwealth Human Rights Law Database and Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest were both established in response to requests from judges and lawyers for assistance in accessing decisions of courts in other countries to guide their own arguments and decision-making in the developing field of human rights law. The combined effect of these two initiatives is to ensure access to the most important developments in comparative jurisprudence, regardless of local technological capacities. The overall aim is to strengthen legal protection and remedies for victims of human rights violations world-wide by providing adequate resources to enable both judges and lawyers to invoke, interpret and apply the principles set out in international and domestic human rights law through local courts.
The cases summarised, often unpublished or unpublicised, are those which refer to international human rights instruments, to provisions of Bills of Rights within national constitutions, or otherwise have a significant human rights dimension. The Programme is supported by Interights' extensive network of Commonwealth contacts who provide information and judgments that are key to the success of this Programme.
Commonwealth Human Rights Case Law Database
Containing summaries of recent human rights decisions from national courts in Commonwealth jurisdictions, the Database is a free online service. Through a browse facility and search engine, the regularly updated Database is searchable under a variety and combination of fields, including by country, date and keyword. The Database enables users to search for relevant summaries of human rights cases which are then presented in a clear format. It provides a potentially unlimited audience instantaneous access to comparative human rights case law, which is of vital importance under the common law system and of value also in civil law jurisdictions.
The Database contains over 1,020 summarised cases (as at April 2005). Links are being added to the full text of judgments where available.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Law Digest
The Digest contains summaries of selected recent human rights decisions from Commonwealth courts. 150 summaries are provided per volume, which are currently published thrice-annually. Due to generous subsidy, and relatively low subscription levels, the publication provides an affordable means of accessing Commonwealth human rights jurisprudence.
CommonwealthNet
This is a monthly case alerter service which sends a roundup of significant human rights decisions from common law jurisdictions to over 1,000 email contacts around the Commonwealth and beyond. It provides a short summary and a link to the full text of decisions handed down from some apex and senior courts, from Canada to India, from the Bahamas to the UK.
|
