Subject and Research Guides: Law: Resources

Human rights law

Australian Human Rights Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission has a responsibility to monitor Australia’s performance in meeting its international human rights commitments. It provides advice and recommendations so that these standards are reflected in our national laws, as well as policies and programs developed by government.

Australian Parliamentary proceedings (Hansard)
The Hansard is the report of the proceedings of the Australian parliament and its committees. This includes the Senate, House of Representatives, the Federation Chamber and all parliamentary committees.
Australian Council of Human Rights Authorities
The Australian Council of Human Rights Authorities (ACHRA), which comprises the State, Territory and Federal human rights and anti-discrimination authorities, plays an important role in monitoring human rights at all levels of Australian government.

Anti-Discrimination New South Wales
The New South Wales state government body that administers the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (the Act).

This government body strives to eliminate discrimination in New South Wales by:

answering enquiries
investigating and resolving complaints
raising awareness about discrimination and its impacts
granting exemptions to the Act
advising the government about discrimination issues.

Aid/Watch
Through research, campaigns and advocacy centered in justice and solidarity, Aid/Watch collaborates with front line communities and networks to expose Australian foreign policy mechanisms and development aggressions that undermine their lives, lands and waters.
Human Rights Law Library
Developed in Austlii with funding assistance from the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Human Rights Council of Australia
The Council's development project include refugee rights, indigenous issues, refugee issues, business and human rights, sport and human rights and the international human rights system. The Council holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic Social and Cultural Committee.
Human Rights Law Centre
The Human Rights Law Centre is an independent, not-for-profit, non-government organisation with consultative status accreditation with the UN Economic and Social Council, formal participation in UN processes as a non-government organisation and it is is accredited with the National Community Legal Centre Accreditation Scheme.
Justice and Equity Centre
The Justice and Equity Centre (formerly the Public Interest Advocacy Centre) is a leading independent law and policy centre. They work with people experiencing disadvantage to expose discrimination and unfairness and use test cases and policy advocacy to drive law reform and systems change. Their work protects and promotes human rights by challenging government and corporations.
NSW Young Lawyers Human Rights Sub-Committee
The Human Rights Sub-Committee focuses on domestic and international human rights law and policy. The aim of the Sub-Committee is to provide a space for early career lawyers and law students to network, discuss human rights law, gain career insights and opportunities, increase their knowledge of topical issues, and advance human rights.
Australian Human Rights Institute
The UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute produces world-leading research and advances debate on critical human rights issues. Through research, education and strategic collaborations, the Institute is committed to protecting rights, dismantling inequality, and fostering a culture of accountability where human rights abuses are challenged and rectified.
Centre for Global Development
The CGD works to reduce global poverty and improve lives through innovative economic research that drives better policy and practice by the world's top decision makers.

United Nations Human Rights Council
An intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.
International Court of Justice
The ICJ settles legal disputes between States, such as a disagreement on a question of law or fact, a conflict, or a clash of legal views or interests. It can also provide advisory opinions for the UN General Assembly or Security Council.
Human Rights Timeline and research guides
The Human Rights Timeline is your guide to the history of human rights development through official documents of the United Nations.

Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. Since its foundation in 1949, the organisation has created a common legal space, centred on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), across its 46 member states. This represents a death penalty-free zone for more than 700 million people.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights is an international court set up in 1959. It rules on individual or State applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.
EUR-Lex
EUR-Lex is your online gateway to EU Law. It provides the official and most comprehensive access to EU legal documents. It is available in all of the EU’s 24 official languages and is updated daily.

Finding Law Reform Commission Reports

Law Reform Commissions conduct inquiries into different areas of law with the purpose of improving the legal system and justice mechanisms. Recommendations made by Law Reform Commissions are often implemented by Government, so the documents they produce can be valuable sources of information regarding legislative change.

The AustLII Law Reform Library is a good starting point when searching for Law Reform materials.

AustLII Law Reform Library

Access national and state websites below:

SHERLOC

Created by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), SHERLOC is a free knowledge portal containing legal resources regarding organized crime and terrorism. In addition, SHERLOC also contains a legislative guide for implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

The SHERLOC knowledge portal contains:

The Database of Legislation – an electronic repository of laws concerning organized crime and terrorism, now covering laws from all 193 UN Member States (as well as 4 non-Member Observer States), categorised by country, crime type, relationship to provisions of international conventions, cross-cutting issues (such as investigative measures and international cooperation) and keywords
The Case Law Database – a database of case summaries of judicial decisions concerning organized crime and terrorism, containing summaries of the facts and legal reasoning of each case, as well as commentary and analysis. Each case summary is categorised according to country, crime type and cross-cutting issues. The relevant judicial decisions are included as attachments or links for each case summary.
The Strategies Database – containing regional and domestic strategies concerning the implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols thereto, as well as the international legal framework against terrorism
The Treaties Database – containing links to relevant international and regional treaties concerning organized crime, drugs and terrorism, as well as criminal procedural issues such as extradition and mutual legal assistance. The Treaties Database also contains information regarding the ratification status of each treaty included therein.
The Bibliographic Database – an annotated bibliography providing synopses of key articles on organized crime and terrorism, searchable by country, research method and keywords

Each of these databases includes materials concerning 15 crime types:

Corruption	Counterfeiting	Cybercrime
Money Laundering	Drug offences	Falsified medical product-related crime
Obstruction of justice	Participation in an organized criminal group	Piracy and maritime crime
Smuggling of migrants	Terrorism	Trafficking in cultural property
Trafficking in firearms	Trafficking in persons	Wildlife, forestry and fisheries crime

SHERLOC