Human Rights: IALS Library Guides

This guide aims to give a brief introduction to the Library's holdings on Human Rights. Please consult the Library Search for complete information on current titles and locations. If you require further assistance please contact us.

Monday-Friday 9:00-17:00
Tel (0)20 7862 5790
Email ials@sas.ac.uk

This Subject Guide only lists a selection of Library resources on Human Rights. To find additional resources you will need to search the Library Search, which covers the complete holdings of the Library. It is possible to search for books, journals and series of law reports by author, title or keyword.

IALS Library is mainly open access and readers are able to browse the shelves in the main collection. There are two main exceptions to this:

• Older items (marked RES or Depository on the catalogue record) are kept in the closed basement.
• Key texts for LLM students are often kept in the Short Loan collection.

Please request these at the Library Enquiry Desk.

For more information on understanding the catalogue record and further guidance on the location of materials please refer to our guide Classmarks and the Location of Resources in the Library.

The Library classifies textbooks either by jurisdiction (GO13, GA2 etc.) or according to subject area, examples of which include Comparative Law (SB), Public International Law (SG) and Private International Law/ Conflict of Laws (SH).

All classmark sections have a FOL section for oversize volumes, which is located on the same floor of the Library.

When you are searching the Library Search for books, please note that only the current edition is held on the open shelves or in the Short Loan collection. IALS has a rich collection of previous editions held in the closed basement and these will display a Depository number on the catalogue. Please request previous editions from the Library Enquiry Desk.

UK Human Rights material is shelved at GA2.C.5
European Union human rights material is shelved at GO1.A1.C.5
Council of Europe & European Commission Human Rights material is shelved at GO1.A25
International Human rights material is shelved at SG85

The following list represents a selection of textbooks on Human Rights. Please follow the links to Library Search for further information and location. Titles are available in both print and electronic formats, unless indicated otherwise on the list below.

Alston, P., et al. International human rights: the successor to International human rights in context: law politics and morals : text and materials. 1st ed. 2013 OUP (print only)

Binder, C (ed). Elgar encyclopedia of human rights. 2022 Elgar (online only)

Brownlie, I., & Goodwin-Gill, G. Brownlie's documents on human rights. 6th ed. 2010 OUP (print only)

Casey-Maslen, S., & Vestner, T. International law and policy on the protection of civilians. 1st ed. 2022 CUP (online only)

Edwards, A. Violence against women under international human rights law. 1st ed. 2011 CUP

Fenton-Glynn, C (ed). Children's rights and sustainable development: interpreting the UNCRC for future generations. 1st ed. 2019 CUP (online only)

Fleck, D., & Bothe, M (eds). Handbook of international humanitarian law. 4th ed. 2021 OUP

Fortin, J. Children’s rights and the developing law. 3rd ed. 2009 CUP

Fraser, J. Social Institutions and International Human Rights Law Implementation: Every Organ of Society. 1st ed. 2020 CUP (online only)

Gearty, C. On fantasy island. 1st ed. 2016 OUP

Harris, D., et al. Harris, O'Boyle and Warbrick: Law of the European Convention on Human Rights. 5th ed. 2023 OUP (print only)

Heller, L. The human rights to water and sanitation. 1st ed. 2022 CUP (online only)

Hickman, T. Public law after the Human Rights Act. 1st ed. 2010 Oregon Hart Publishing

Ienca, M., et al (eds). Cambridge handbook of Information technology, life sciences and human rights. 1st ed. 2022 CUP (online only)

Janis, M., et al. European human rights law. 3rd ed. 2008 OUP (print only)

Marshall, J. Personal freedom through human rights law: autonomy, identity and integrity under the European Convention on Human Rights. 1st ed. 2009 Nijhoff

May, J., & Daly E (eds). Human rights and the environment: legality, indivisibility, dignity and geography. 1st ed. 2019 Elgar

McColgan, A. Discrimination law: text, cases and materials. 3rd ed. 2023 Hart (print only)

McDermott, H., et al (eds). Human Rights and 21st Century Challenges: Poverty, Conflict, and the Environment. 1st ed. 2020 OUP (online only)

Moeckli, D., et al (eds). International human rights law. 4th ed. 2022 OUP (print only)

O'Connell, R. Law, democracy and the European Court of Human Rights. 1st ed. 2020 CUP (online only)

Rainey, B., et al. Jacobs, White and Ovey: The European Convention on Human Rights.  8th ed. 2021 OUP (print only)

Ratner, S. Accountability for human rights atrocities in international law. 3rd ed. 2009 OUP (print only)

Reiertsen, M. Effective domestic remedies and the European Court of Human Rights: applications of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 13. 1st ed. 2022 CUP (online only)

Roach, K. Remedies for human rights violations: a two track approach to supra national and national law. 1st ed. 2021 CUP (online only)

Tobin, J (ed). The UN convention on the Rights of the Child. 1st ed. 2019 OUP (online only)

Van Dijk, P., et al (eds). Theory and practice of the European Convention on Human Rights. 5th ed. 2018 Intersentia (print only)

Villiger, M. Handbook on the European Convention on Human Rights. 1st ed. 2023 Brill (online only)

Wadham, J. Blackstone’s guide to the Human Rights Act 1998. 8th ed. 2024 OUP

IALS Library holds a wide selection of current serial titles on Human Rights from many different jurisdictions. These are located on all floors of the Library. Titles are available in both print and electronic formats, unless indicated otherwise on the list below. For more detailed help, please refer to the guide on Finding journal articles.

The following titles focus particularly on Human Rights but there may be relevant articles in less specialised journals:

African human rights law journal

African yearbook on international humanitarian law (online only)

Columbia human rights law review

European human rights law review

Harvard human rights journal

Human rights law journal (print only)

Human rights quarterly

Human rights law review

International journal of children's rights

International journal on minority and group rights

Israel yearbook on human rights (print only)

Netherlands quarterly of human rights

South African journal on human rights

United Nations. Report of the Human Rights Committee

Yearbook of international humanitarian law

Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights (print only)

If you are interested in legislation or cases concerning Human Rights issues in specific countries you will need to consult the legislation or law reports for that jurisdiction.

Consult the Library Search to find the general classmark for the country you require. Consult consolidations of legislation, digests or indexes to trace particular acts or cases.

Academic users may also use databases like Lexis/Westlaw to find UK, US, EU or international decisions. For further information please refer to Law Databases or ask at the Library Enquiry Desk.

You may also find it useful to refer to our guides on finding Legislation and Cases or check to see if we have a Jurisdiction Research Guide for the country you are interested in.

Eagle-i is an internet portal maintained and updated by IALS library staff. It allows you to search for quality web resources on international economic law.

A valuable free source is BAILII, the British and Irish Legal information Institute which is based and maintained at IALS. It provides free access to full text UK judgments and legislation on a wide range of subjects including Human Rights and also links to other free World Law databases. Jurisdictions covered in these resources include Commonwealth countries eg. AustLII  (Australia) and CanLII (Canada), France, Germany, Italy, the USA and South Africa.

The following represent a sample of the available quality individual web resources on Human Rights:

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - Human Rights by Country