The United Nations has released a research tool, UN Member States: On the Record , which aggregates UN members states' documentation in a really helpful way, and in a manner more substantive than the kind of research that young students often perform for their "Model UN" exercises and the like. Susan Kurtas of the Legal Branch Library of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library describes its purpose as follows:

"It links to selected UN databases, websites, and other information resources to make the record of Member States' activities at the UN more accessible. There are no new resources here--  just links to exisiting resources that have been dispersed around the UN website for years.  Information available for each Member State includes: the key documents related to its membership in the UN; statements made before the principal organs; draft resolutions sponsored; periodic reports submitted on Human Rights conventions, and more. Running behind this new research tool are pre-set searches on multiple databases maintained by the UN Libraries and other Secretariat departments.  A single click links to the most accurate, up-to date results, and yet also includes extensive historic coverage.  Full text documents are linked in all official languages of the UN."

Several U.S. museums have recently returned priceless antiquities to European nations after suspicions were raised about possible looting.  Foreign and international law are relevant to these situations and there is a new resource to track down foreign laws in English.  The International Foundation for Art Research is providing translations of over 25 jurisdictions.  Useful links to relevant U.S. statutes and case law are also available.

Some recent library publications on the topic of cultural property include:

• Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice
• Who Owns the Past?: Cultural Policy, Cultural Property, and the Law
• Trade in Illicit Antiquities: The Destruction of the World's Archaeological Heritage

The wealth of international databases just keeps growing, both on the free web and in the databases we have been announcing here on the blog this year.

The Institute for Advance Legal Studies in London has created a near-equivalent of the Bowman & Harris, Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status in a searchable database, although it lacks the multiple source citations that made the print original so invaluable. But it is a great start on older treaties, and free.

On another topic, there is a great deal of talk about nukes and global developments in N. Korea and elsewhere. How timely that the IAEA Nuclear Information Database is now available online, also for free. The scientific literature available in its reports would relate to interdisciplinary research on the treaty regimes and compliance.

On Tuesday the UN held an event with the cast and producers of the television show Battlestar Galactica.  Whoopi Goldberg, a UNICEF ambassador herself, served as the moderator.  UN representatives used the opportunity to discuss the human rights issues examined in the television series.  The topics discussed included torture, religious fundamentalism, terrorism, and genocide.

Read more at:
UN News Centre - UN and Battlestar Galactica host discussion of human rights and armed conflict

NPR article -At the U.N., 'Battlestar' Troops Talk Ethics of War.

The Law Library staff has been following the status of the habeas corpus petitions filed by hundreds of detainees being held at the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. For those trying to understand how the cases will be handled in light of the Supreme Court's Boumediene decision in June, we have summarized the current state of the proceedings, along with links to relevant documents.

There are over one hundred cases pending, involving well over two hundred detainees. The open cases have been divided into three groups. The first group is that of 17 Chinese Uighurs detained at Guantanamo. In October, these detainees were ordered released into the United States by D.C. District Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina. The case has been appealed to the DC Circuit Court, which held a hearing on November 24, but has not yet issued a decision.

The rest of the cases are currently in front of the District Court. The Court held an executive session to discuss how to proceed in these cases, and issued a resolution in July. The result of the session is that most of the cases have been transferred to Judge Thomas F. Hogan, strictly for the purposes of determining the procedures to be used. These cases will eventually be returned to approximately twelve judges, who will decide these cases on their merits. Judge Hogan has consolidated all of these into a single case for this purpose, and issued a case management order outlining the procedures.

The third group of cases consists of those that have been retained by Judge Richard J. Leon, who has not consolidated them. Judge Leon has issued separate case management orders which establish the procedures he will be using in his cases. We have attached those orders in a zipped folder, and you can see them by clicking the "Download" link at the bottom of this post.

If you are looking for more information, the New York Times has created a database which lists all of the detainees by name, and the District Court's page contains further case documents.

(Georgetown Note: Judges Urbina and Hogan are both graduates of the Law Center and Judge Leon is an adjunct faculty member.)

Update: On December 16, Judge Hogan substantially amended his case management order, outlining the procedures to be used in most of these cases. SCOTUSblog explains the implications of the new order. 

Yesterday, it was widely reported that a U.S. District Court judge has ordered the release of five detainees held at the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay.

If you've been following this story, you can take a look at the judge's order and the response from the Justice Department.

According to Ms Susan Kurtas, part of the reference team at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, United Nations, the UN has launched the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs launched the Audiovisual Library of International Law, which "aims to provide free, scholarly resources to students and practictioners around the world, particularly in regions where there are few resources for the study of international law.

The website has three main parts:

The Historic Archives present documents, photos, and digital film footage relating to the UN role in the development of international law.  This section includes the texts of treaties, some General Assembly declarations, and certain Security Council resolutions.  Each legal instrument also has a procedural history and/or related documents (travaux preparatoires). 

The Lecture Series contains lectures by leading scholars on topics in international law, and includes a bibliography of related materials.  The 100 lectures posted so far are each about an hour long and discuss various aspects of international law.  Most are in English, but other official languages of the UN are also represented.  Certain scholars contribute introductory texts for the Historic Archives as well as lectures. 

The Research Library provides links to other web-based research resources in international law, including other UN sources, national treaty series, and selected scholarly articles provided by HeinOnline (still in pilot/beta)."

OK, stocks have tanked recently, retirement plans are looking sad, credit is squeezed, banks may be semi-nationalized...but one thing we are learning is that causes and effects are truly global. What better time could there be for yet another wonderful new international law and relations tool to be released, and this is a formerly expensive CD now made free as a digital repository: the Yearbook of the United Nations
now online from 1946 through 2005! In its print incarnation, this is where I send students for gathering information on the UN actions regarding major world events and the documents supporting those actions. It is more context-rich than AccessUN, and voting records on resolutions of the General Assembly are included. It is in PDF. Searching appears easy.
For example one can just search for "Gulf War" across the 1991-1998 volumes, as in HeinOnline, and get the actions and documents collected in the relevant sections of these very large volumes. Brilliant, and perfect for what one hopes is a new age of cooperation and multilateralism.

This month the United Nations re-launched its invaluable treaty research service, United Nations Treaty Collection, but at a new URL: treaties.un.org

And in addition, the American Society of International Law has launched a new free database entitled i-lex: The Legal Research System for International Law in U.S. Courts.
"This online database of select U.S. court cases and related materials is designed to serve as a practical resource for members of the judiciary and other legal professionals to identify and understand how international law is interpreted and applied by U.S. courts at both the federal and state level."
More work for guide updating...but great new resources!

An important  emerging research issue in the area of treaties is underscored by this recent IL Post from the American Society of International Law. The issue is of equal interest to the practicing bar; an excerpt of the Society's announcement of a new task force on the issue is posted as follows:

"On March 25, 2008, the Supreme Court held in Medellin v. Texas that the International Court of Justice's March 31, 2004, Judgment in the Case Concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals, while creating an international legal obligation applicable to the United States, does not create binding federal law enforceable in U.S. courts and that the President does not have the constitutional authority to mandate that a state comply. Medellin appears to merge the question of whether a treaty is enforceable in federal court with the question of whether that treaty is binding federal law, stating that non-self-executing treaties are neither. ...Medellin suggests that if it cannot be clearly determined that Congress understood the treaty in question to be self-executing when providing advice and consent to ratification, the treaty will be considered non-self-executing and will not be treated as U.S. domestic law. This could call into question the status not only of treaties with binding ICJ dispute settlement clauses, but also of many other existing
bilateral and multilateral treaties for which there is neither domestic implementing legislation nor a clear record that they are self-executing."

The post goes on to state that the aim of the Task Force on Treaties in U.S. Law will be to examine existing treaties regarding their status and to consider possible executive or legislative actions that might be advisable to clarify their status and that of future treaties.