International Court Decisions: Electronic Access

1. International Court Decisions: Electronic Access Faye Jones Spring 2006

2. Challenges in International Legal Research • Formal names and informal names • International Court of Justice (ICJ) aka “World Court” • Differing styles of publication patterns • Ex., Charters, Gazettes, advisory opinions • Terminology and citation forms that may be unfamiliar to many U.S. researchers • Variety of sources: Primary sources, secondary sources, digests, bibliographies, Lexis, WL & the Internet

3. Beginning International Law Research • Develop vocabulary • Nutshell, hornbook, law review article, pathfinder, web site • Best tutorials: Duke Law School and EISIL PPT and introduction • Find a guide to unfamiliar citation forms and abbreviations • Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, KF246 B46 2001 (Copies at the Reference Desk and available for check out) • Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations • With a full citation, an Internet search may be helpful • Ex., 36 ILR 277 • If you have the exact title, checkAleph, the library’s catalog • Find a research guide • Search the Internet, Lexis or WL

4. Beginning Research: Find a Guide • UN Documentation: Research Guide • International Law Pathfinder • HLS Research Guides • International Courts and Tribunals • Hastings ICJ Research Guide • IALS Public International Law Research Guide (UK) • FSU Research Guides • Powerpoint presentations online via Google advance search • Marci Hoffman, Researching Foreign Law, Advanced Legal Research, 11/10/2005, UC Berkeley

5. International Courts: Background • Pre-WWII - small number of international courts and tribunals (ICTs) • Post-WWII – proliferation of ICTs • Criminal courts • Human rights • International trade • Labor • Regional

6. Impact of the Internet • Most ICTs have put decisions online • Official websites by agency, court or tribunal • Fragmentation remains a challenge • WorldLII – free-access, nonprofit, independent legal research resource • WorldLII International Courts & Tribunals Project, 6th Conf. on Law via the Internet, Paris, November 3-5, 2004 • 30+ websites, no consolidation • 30% no search engine • 30% not searchable via Google • 25% not in html format, offer few navigation aids

7. ICT Project: A response to fragmentation • Project goals: searchability, consistency & decentralization wherever practical • All final decisions of ICTs searchable together • Not including interim decisions • Consistent formatting of decisions • E.g., ‘Context’ links to search terms • Consistency in citation form • Ex., McElhinney v. Ireland [2001] ECHR 754 • Regional decisions on regional sites • Ex., ECJ is on BAILII • French language decisions on Droit Francophone

8. ICT Project Content • As of November 2004: • 20 ICTs nearly completed • French & Spanish still being added • Over 20,000 full-text decisions • Other content to be added: • Permanent Court of International Justice • Other international criminal courts • Database of Court statutes, rules, etc. • Future: • ICT cooperation • Australian Research Council funding for back runs of decisions • Possible collaboration with PiCT (Project on International Courts & Tribunals) • Keep checking WorldLII for new content

9. WorldLII Searchability • Searches • Default is to search all decisions • Popular combinations of databases allowed • Individual courts or combinations allowed • Searches can be repeated over larger collections • Navigation • Go directly to a case using ‘v’ • Update (note-up) using ‘near’

10. Other Sites • ECHR on HUDOC • Searching • by article number and section • by outcome of the case • Ex., search Conclusion section to see if there was a violation or if damages were awarded • EISIL • Electronic Information System for International Law • Created by ASIL, American Society of International Law

11. Lexis • International Law Topical Practice Area • International News & Business (a very short sample) • News & Business>Country & Region (excluding U.S.) • Use checkboxes to select sources for searching across categories, pages, and tabs. Show Me...Country Reports (Walden)Americas (excluding U.S.)Country BriefingsAsia PacificWorld News,Bus Anal. & Country Info,and Selected Legal Texts and CodesEuropeWorldwide Market ShareEuropean UnionMiddle East & AfricaAfghanistanAlbania • See online in Lexis for much more

12. Westlaw • International Practice Topical Law • International/Worldwide Materials • Multi-National Materials Asia and the Pacific Rim Central America and the Caribbean European Union Europe and the United Kingdom Middle East and North Africa North America South America Sub-Saharan Africa Databases Listed Alphabetically by Country or Region

13. Finding a Job in International Law • Careers in International Law: a guide to career paths and internships in international law, American Society of International Law, (aka ASIL careers guide), Career Planning/Ref K115 I58 2003 • International Public Interest Law: a guide to opportunities in the U.S. and abroad, (Joint Harvard/Yale project), 4th ed., Career Planning/Ref KF118 P82 P83 2002 • LLM Guide Worldwide • FSU resources • Terry Coonan, Center for the Advancement of Human Rights • Mark Ellis, International Bar Association • Professor D’Alemberte • Margaret Clark, Reference Librarian, 644-9244, mclark@law.fsu.edu • Oxford Program, Shirley Oglesby, 644-4578, soglesby@law.fsu.edu • Reference Desk, 644-4095