Research Guides: How to Find International Legal Information: United Nations

United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945. It is currently made up of 193 Member States. The mission and work of the United Nations are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter.

U.N. Security Council Resolutions

United Nations Security Council resolutions 1946-current: text, dates of adoption, and vote total.

U.N. General Assembly Resolutions

United Nations General Assembly resolutions (1946-current; online) text, dates of adoption, and vote totals. For a comparison of U.N. member voting history using a variety of indicators, see Voting Practices in the United Nations from the U.S. Dept. of State.

United Nations site searches

Voting Data search
The voting records for all resolutions which were adopted by the General Assembly beginning and the Security Council beginning with its 1st year (1946-). Links to the full text.
U.N. Speeches search
Citations to speeches made in the General Assembly beginning with its 38th session (1983-), the Security Council beginning with its 38th year (1983-), the Economic and Social Council beginning in 1983 and the Trusteeship Council beginning with its 15th special session (1982). Links to the full text.
U.N. Documents search
The Official Document System (ODS) is an online database of UN documents that was first launched in 1993 and updated in 2016. ODS has full-text, born-digital UN documents published from 1993 onward.
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The database also includes scanned documents published between 1946 and 1993, including all resolutions of the principal organs, all documents of the Security Council and the General Assembly Official Records. Documents are available in the official languages of the UN; some documents are also available in German.

ODS does not have the following types of materials: documents issued before 1993 that have not yet been digitized, press releases, sales publications, such as the Yearbook and the Treaty Series, and documents that do not have a UN symbol.

Human Rights

Council of Europe An international organisation in Strasbourg which comprises 47 countries of Europe. It was set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe. See Reports of Judgments and Decisions for case law.

United Nations - Human Rights Watch Links to documents, treaties and cases.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, was the result of the experience of the Second World War. With the end of that war, and the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed never again to allow atrocities like those of that conflict happen again.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR is governed by the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

CEDAW: Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.