Research guides: International Human Rights: 1. Structure of UN Human Rights Bodies

Tribunal Practice

Manual on international courts and tribunals (2010, 2nd ed.) by Ruth Mackenzie, Cesare P. R. Romano, Yuval Shany, with Philippe Sands.
Call Number: KZ6250.M36 2010
Aims to provide the basic information required by a potential complainant to most of the principal global and regional international courts and tribunals, including information on complaint procedure, rules of procedure, likely cost of proceedings, powers of decision, power to issue interim orders, jurisdiction, location and contact information, presentation of pleadings.

UN human rights bodies are categorized in two classes: charter-based bodies and treaty-based bodies. The first derive from provisions in the UN Charter while the second are created under international human rights treaties. The two mechanisms are structured to complement each other in their workings.

The current Charter-based bodies are the Human Rights Council and its subsidiaries.

For information on the differences between Charter-based bodies and treaty-based based bodies see the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide on Human Rights Documentation