Human Rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution whose purpose is the application and interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights. The Court exercises its functions in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Convention and the present Statute.

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights, was opened for signature in Rome on 4 November 1950 and came into force on 3 September 1953. It was the first instrument to give effect to certain of the rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and make them binding.

The International Court of Justice, which has its seat in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations

"The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.
​​The Court cannot reach these goals alone. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court."

Available on Lexis Advanced. Log in required. Available to students and faculty at Maine Law.

Available on Lexis Advanced. Log in required. Available to students and faculty at Maine Law. "Butterworths Human Rights Cases reports landmark and interesting human rights decisions from international and national courts and tribunals that make a significant contribution to the way in which a particular right or freedom is interpreted or applied."

"The African Human Rights Law Reports contains legal decisions of relevance to human rights law in Africa. These include selected domestic decisions from the whole continent, as well as the decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations treaty bodies, dealing with African countries."
"The Reports are edited at the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, in cooperation with the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, Banjul, The Gambia."