Updated: 2/27/2012 1

Taggart Law Library Research Guide #11: The Law of War

There are many different sources available to you to conduct law of war research in the Taggart Law

Library. If you need assistance locating or using any of these sources, please consult a librarian.

Secondary Sources

Treatises: Legal treatises, or books, are often a good way to begin researching a topic. These treatises

can be one volume or multi-volume, and may be updated with pocket parts or as part of a looseleaf

service. They provide a discussion of the law in that area and can give you citations and references to

both primary sources and other secondary sources.

You can use POLAR, the online catalog, to help you locate appropriate treatises. Examples of some

subject headings you might use as subject searches for research on the law of war include:

Crimes against humanity Criminal procedure (international law) Genocide—name of country [e.g., Rwanda, etc.]

Humanitarian law International criminal courts International crimes

Military law—name of country [e.g., United States, etc.] Name of incident [e.g., My Lai Massacre, Vietnam, 1968] Name of war—atrocities [e.g., World War, 1939-1945—atrocities] War (international law) War crime trials

War crimes War criminals War victims—legal status, laws, etc.

Once you find a book on the shelf, you can browse the stacks in a particular area and often find

something better than what you were originally looking for! Here are the call numbers and locations of

some of the subject headings mentioned above:

Call No. Subject(s) Location

K 5301 War crimes; war crime trials, etc. Law North

KZ 6385 War (international law) Law North

KZ 6471 Humanitarian law Law North

Updated: 2/27/2012 2

POLAR Screen Shot—The Conduct of Hostilities Under the Law of International Armed Conflict

Research Guides/Bibliographies: Sometimes helpful research sources for a particular area of the law

have already been pulled together by someone else. An example of a print bibliography on the law of

war is:

War Crimes, War Criminals, and War Crimes Trials: An Annotated Bibliography and Source Book,

Norman E. Tutorow, ed. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986. K 5301.A12 T87 1986—Law North

To find other materials like this, you can try a keyword or subject search using terms such as “war crimes

bibliography” in POLAR or OhioLINK.

There are also several online research guides related to the law of war, including:

Case School of Law—War Crimes Research Portal:

http://www.law.case.edu/war-crimes-research-portal/

Georgetown Law Library—War Crimes:

http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/WarCrimes.cfm

New England School of Law—War Crimes:

http://www.nesl.edu/research/warcrim.cfm

Journal Articles: Articles from legal journals and law reviews can also be helpful in explaining an area of

the law and providing research references. Articles can often be more current and more narrowly

Location and Call Number

Subject headings

Subject search

Updated: 2/27/2012 3

focused than books. For example, on the topic of the law of war, the article “Creating and Improving

Legal Incentives for Law of War Compliance” from the Winter 2008 issue of the New England Law

Review might be helpful.

How do I find journal articles on my topic?

There is usually a two-step process to finding journal articles:

For the above example, this process would look something like this:

Print and Online Journal Indexes: Index to Legal Periodicals and Books (Beige in color)

Articles indexed by subject and author from 1886-present; citations only—Law North (also available electronically through library’s Subscription Services page)

Current Law Index (CLI—Red & black in color)

Articles indexed by subject, author, and title from 1980-present; citations only—Law North (also available electronically through library’s Subscription Services page as LegalTrac)

Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Burgundy in color)

Articles indexed by subject, geographical area, and author from 1960-present )—Law North (also available online through library’s Subscription Services page)

Use a print or online index to find citations to articles by

topic

Go to a print or online journal to get the full text of the

article

Look in index under “law of war” topic to find

"Creating and Improving Legal Incentives..."

article

Go to the correct issue of the New England Law Review to get the actual

article

Updated: 2/27/2012 4

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS—Green in color)

Indexes over 1,600 public policy journals, including many non-law titles, by subject; includes non-English language journals—Law North (also available online through library’s Subscription Services page)

Online indexes can be accessed on the Library Subscription Services page (see below)

Where do I go to get the full text of articles?

Bound Periodicals and Law Reviews: Shelved in alphabetical order by journal title—Law North

Law Reserve: The most current issues of our periodicals are kept on reserve. If the article is

recent and you can’t find it on the shelves, ask at the Circulation Desk.

HeinOnline: Full text page images of law reviews and journals; coverage varies by title—but

most titles go back to volume 1; available at the law library from the Library Subscription

Services web page (see next page)

JSTOR: Scholarly journal archive featuring full text page images of articles from journals in

economics, history, political science, sociology, and many other disciplines; coverage varies by

title—available through the Library Subscription Services web page (see next page)

Google Scholar: Searches scholarly literature (books, articles, etc.); search results include

citations and links to full text. “OLinks” linking feature shows print and online access to

materials at ONU and OhioLINK. Available at http://scholar.google.com.

Updated: 2/27/2012 5

Hein Online and JSTOR

Periodical Titles: There are many periodicals dealing with law of war issues. Some of these titles are

listed below, with the law library’s holdings provided where applicable.

American Journal of International Law: Published by American Society of International Law

(vol.1-present in Law Periodicals); also available online through HeinOnline and JSTOR

International Review of the Red Cross: Quarterly publication of the International Committee of

the Red Cross dealing with international humanitarian law; available freely online from 1995-

present at http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/international-review/index.jsp

Journal of Conflict and Security Law: Formerly known as the Journal of Armed Conflict Law (vol.

5-present in Law Periodicals; also available online through HeinOnline and Oxford Journals)

Journal of International Criminal Justice: Published by Oxford University Press (vol.1-present in

Law Periodicals; also available online through Lexis, Westlaw, and OhioLINK Electronic Journal

Center)

Military Law Review: Publication of the U.S. Department of the Army (1958-2003 in Law

Periodicals; also available online through HeinOnline, LLMC Digital, and the Library of Congress)

To find other print and electronic journals dealing with your topic, use keyword or subject searches

using terms such as “military law periodicals” in POLAR.

Updated: 2/27/2012 6

Primary Sources

Primary sources such as conventions, proceedings of tribunals, materials from military trials, and

government documents on the law of war will be very important to your research. These primary

sources are available in a variety of places.

Conventions: International conventions are very important in the law of war. Some print and electronic

sources for these conventions include:

Documents on the Laws of War, 3rd ed. Roberts and Guelff, eds. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press,

2000. KZ 6385.D63 2000—Law North

EISIL: Electronic System for International Law: available online through the American Society of

International Law; contains links to conventions on war crimes and crimes against humanity at:

http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=842719511&t=sub_pages&cat=492 and

http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=842719511&t=sub_pages&cat=207

and conventions on the law of armed conflict at:

http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=842719511&t=sub_pages&cat=75

International Humanitarian Law Database: available online through the International Committee

of the Red Cross; contains treaties and documents by topics, date, and country

http://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/home

The Law of War, A Documentary History, 2 volumes. Friedman, ed. New York: Random House,

1972. KZ 6385.F74 1972—Law North

The Laws of War: available online through the Avalon Project at Yale Law School at

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/lawwar.asp

Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States.

Washington, DC: Dept. of State. S 9.14: (Year)—Law Documents (also available online at

http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/tif/index.htm)

Tufts University Multilaterals Project—Rules of Warfare, Arms Control: available online;

contains full-text versions of international multilateral conventions on warfare and arms control.

http://fletcher.archive.tusm-oit.org/multilaterals/warfare.html

United Nations Treaty Collection: online database available through the library’s Subscription

Services web page

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library: available online; contains lists of conventions on

war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and terrorism at:

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/auox.htm

and the law of armed conflict at: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/auoy.htm

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Courts and Tribunals: Some key print and electronic sources dealing with international courts and

tribunals include:

Global War Crimes Tribunal Collection. Global Law Association, 1997-. KZ 1190.G56 1997—Law

North (multi-volume set of trial materials from Rwanda and Yugoslavia tribunals)

Official Web Sites: These official sites can offer background information as well as links to many

primary source materials.

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR): http://www.unictr.org/

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY): http://www.icty.org/

International Criminal Court (ICC): http://www.icc-cpi.int/

Special Court for Sierra Leone: http://www.sc-sl.org/

International Court of Justice (ICJ): http://www.icj-cij.org/

The Leipzig Trials: An Account of the War Criminals’ Trials and a Study of the German Mentality.

Claud Mullins. London: H.F. & G. Witherby, 1921. Available online through The Making

of Modern Law database and in print through OhioLINK.

Nuremberg Trials Project: A Digital Document Collection: available online through the Harvard

Law School Library at http://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/

The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials: available online through the Avalon Project at Yale Law

School at http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/imt.asp

The Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Documentary History. Compiled by M. Cherif

Bassiouni. Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Pub., 1998. KZ 7288.S73 1998—Law North

Statutes Establishing Courts and Tribunals:

Rome Statute of the ICC: http://untreaty.un.org/cod/icc/statute/romefra.htm

Statute of the ICTY: http://www.icty.org/sid/135

Statute of the ICTR:

http://www.unictr.org/Legal/StatuteoftheTribunal/tabid/94/Default.aspx

Agreement between the UN and Sierra Leone for the establishment of a Special Court

for Sierra Leone:

http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=CLk1rMQtCHg%3d&tabid=176

Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone:

http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=uClnd1MJeEw%3d&tabid=176

Statute of the Iraqi Special Tribunal:

http://law.case.edu/saddamtrial/documents/IST_statute_official_english.pdf

The Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Annotated, compiled, and edited by Pritchard and Zaide. New York:

Garland Pub., 1981-. Available through OhioLINK.

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The Trial of German Major War Criminals: Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal

Sitting at Nuremberg, Germany. London: 1946-. Available through OhioLINK.

Military Trial Materials: There are various print and electronic materials dealing with military trials.

Boston Massacre

Famous American Trials: Boston Massacre Trials: available online through the UMKC School of

Law at

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/bostonmassacre/bostonmassacre.html

History of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770: Consisting of the Narrative of the Town, the

Trial of the Soldiers: and a Historical Introduction, Containing Unpublished Documents

of John Adams, and Explanatory Notes. Frederick Kidder. Delanco, N.J.: Notable Trials

Library, 2001. E 215.4.K46 2001—Law Special Collections

The Trial of the British soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot for the murder of Crispus Attucks ...

on ... March 5, 1770, before the ... justices of the Superior Court ... November 27, 1770.

Boston: Belcher and Armstrong, 1807. Available online through the Early American

Imprints, Series II database on the library’s Subscription Services web page.

Breaker Morant Trial (South Africa)

Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of the Bushveldt Carbineers. George Witton. London:

Angus & Robertson, 1982. DT 1916.W58 2009—Law Special Collections

o for more sources, try using the subject heading “Trials (military offenses)—South Africa”

in OhioLINK

Iraq (Haditha, Abu Ghraib, etc.)

The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib. Greenberg and Dratel, eds. New York: Cambridge

Univ. Press, 2005. DS 79.76 T676 2005—Law North

War Crimes Research Portal: Iraq: Links to resources dealing with the war in Iraq; available at

http://www.law.case.edu/war-crimes-research-portal/links.asp?id=44

o for more sources, try using the subject headings “Iraq War, 2003—Atrocities” or “Abu

Ghraib Prison” in OhioLINK

Malmedy

A Peculiar Crusade: Willis M. Everett and the Malmedy Massacre. James J. Weingartner. New

York: New York University Press, c2000. D804.G4 W39 2000—Law North

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My Lai

Famous American Trials: My Lai: available online through the UMKC School of Law at

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/mylai.htm

Investigation of the My Lai Incident: Congressional hearings and report available online through

the Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/ML_investigation.html

War Crimes Research Portal: Vietnam War Crimes: Links to resources dealing with the My Lai

incident and other Vietnam War crimes; available at http://www.law.case.edu/war-crimes-

research-portal/links.asp?id=76

Military Documents: Consulting the military operational manuals and documents of the United States

and other countries may also be important to your research. Here are some sources to consult in this

area:

U.S.

Army War College Library Links: Regulations and Field Manuals from all branches of the service,

as well as Department of Defense Directives.

http://www.carlisle.army.mil/library/official_publications.htm

Department of Defense Issuances: Includes DoD directives, instructions, and other publications;

available online at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/

Law of Armed Conflict in Air and Space Operations: Bibliography prepared by the Air University

Library; available online at http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/loac09.htm

The Law of Land Warfare. U.S. Department of the Army. Washington: GPO, 1956. D 101.20:27-

10—Law Documents; also available online at

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/law_warfare-1956.pdf

Law of War Workshop Deskbook, 2005. (posted Sep. 2004) International and Operational Law

Department, JAG School, U.S. Army, Charlottesville, VA. Available online at

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/law/low-workbook.pdf

The Laws of Land Warfare: A Guide to the U.S. Army Manuals. Donald Wells, ed. Westport,

Conn: Greenwood Press, 1992. KF 7250.W45 1992—Law North

Operational Law Handbooks. International and Operational Law Department, JAG School, U.S.

Army, Charlottesville, VA. Available online at

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/operational-law-handbooks.html

Updated: 2/27/2012 10

Australia

Law of Armed Conflict: available online at

http://www.defence.gov.au/jwdtc/Documents/DoctrineLibrary/ADDP06.4-

LawofArmedConflict.pdf

Canada

Department of National Defence—Office of the Judge Advocate General: Law of Armed Conflict

Manual available online at http://www.forces.gc.ca/jag/publications/training-formation/loac-

ddca-2004-eng.pdf

UK

The Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict. Great Britain-Ministry of Defence. Oxford: Oxford

Univ. Press, 2004. Available through OhioLINK.

o Additional information available online at:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/LegalPublic

ations/LawOfArmedConflict/

Foreign Law: Researching the law of war frequently requires the ability to find foreign law from a variety

of jurisdictions. Some sources to help you get started include:

Constitutions of the Countries of the World. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana, 1971-. K 3157.A2 B58—

Law North

Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World.

Reynolds and Flores. Littleton, CO: Fred B. Rothman, 1989-. K 38.R49 1989—Law

Reference; also available online at: http://www.foreignlawguide.com/ip/

Germain’s Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys. Claire M. Germain. Ardsley-on-

Hudson, NY: Transnational Juris Publications, 1991. K 85.G47 1991—Law Reference

GlobaLex: A wide variety of research guides on the laws of individual countries, as well as

guides on international and comparative law. Available through the NYU School of Law at

http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/index.html

Global Legal Information Network (GLIN): Public database of laws, regulations, judicial

decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and

international organizations. Some full-text availability; documents in English and other

languages. Available at http://www.glin.gov/

WashLaw Foreign and International Web: Provides links to primary foreign and international

legal resources, organized by subject, author, and country. Available through the Washburn

University School of Law at http://www.washlaw.edu/forint/index.html

Updated: 2/27/2012 11

Selected Links to Law of War Websites

When using the Internet for research, be sure to carefully evaluate the websites you are using to

determine how authoritative they are and any potential bias they may have on the topic you are

researching.

Air War College—Military Law and Legal Links: Topically organized links to many military law subjects,

including the law of war, war crimes, and much more.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-law.htm

American University Washington College of Law—War Crimes Research Office: Information about

various war crimes courts and tribunals, with research links organized by topic and by country

http://www.wcl.american.edu/warcrimes/

The Center on Law and Security: Sponsored by the New York University School of Law, this center is

“committed to promoting an informed understanding of the legal and security issues defining the post

9/11 era.” Website contains a variety of publications, including the “Rule of Law Series” and the

“Terrorist Trial Report Card.”

http://www.lawandsecurity.org/index.cfm

Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO): Database available through the library’s Subscription

Services page, produced by Columbia University; publishes a variety of scholarship on international

affairs, including working papers, conference proceedings, books, journals, and policy briefs.

http://www.ciaonet.org/

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports: Collection of reports by CRS, a congressional support

agency, which primarily address national security and foreign policy issues.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/

Crimes of War Project: Non-profit organization dedicated to education and awareness of international

humanitarian law and the laws of war; website includes a topically organized bibliography and links to

other resources.

http://www.crimesofwar.org/index.html

Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL): Electronic portal provided by the American

Society of International Law. Links to primary and secondary sources organized topically.

http://www.eisil.org/

Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT): Sponsored by Syracuse University, this

institute is a “multidisciplinary, university-based center for the study of national and international

security and terrorism. Website includes some publications and links to other security-related

organizations.

http://www.insct.syr.edu/

Updated: 2/27/2012 12

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): International organization ensuring humanitarian

protection and assistance for victims of war and armed violence; site has a great deal of information on

humanitarian law, including treaties and customary law.

http://www.icrc.org/eng

International Humanitarian Law Research Initiative: Website produced through the Harvard University

School of Public Health; contains an E-Library with links to many online documents, including judicial

decisions, legal instruments, news, reports and analysis, and more. Library is searchable by date, region,

or keyword.

http://ihl.ihlresearch.org/

LLMC Digital: Database available through the library’s Subscription Services page. Contains digitized

document collections of U.S., foreign, and international law, as well as a subject collection of military

law materials.

http://www.llmcdigital.org/Default.aspx

Military Legal Resources: Resource page provided by the Library of Congress, including links to

historical manuals, regulations, monographs, and periodicals.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/military-legal-resources-home.html

Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG):

Maintained by the National Archives; the IWG locates, identifies, and recommends for declassification

U.S. government records concerning World War II crimes.

http://archives.gov/iwg/

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI): Institute that conducts research on

questions of conflict and cooperation of importance for international peace and security. Website

includes links to research, publications, and databases, including Facts on International Relations and

Security Trends (FIRST), a country profiles database with 38 different tables.

http://www.sipri.org/

World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII): Free access to worldwide law; information organized by

country, region, and subject (including human rights, international law, and military law)

http://www.worldlii.org/

Writing Resources

Once you have finished researching your topic, you may want help in writing your seminar paper. Listed

below are some resources at the Taggart Law Library to assist you with questions you may have about

writing in general and legal writing specifically.

Updated: 2/27/2012 13

Style Guides and Citation Manuals

ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, 4th ed. Association of Legal Writing Directors

and Darby Dickerson. KF 245.A45 2010—Law Reference

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 19th ed. Harvard Law Review Association. KF 245.U54

2010—Law Reserve and Law Reference (multiple copies)

The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. University of Chicago Press. Z 253.U69 2003—Law Reference and

Law North (multiple copies)

The Elements of Legal Style, 2nd ed. Bryan A. Garner. KF 250.G37 2002—Law North and Law Reference

The Elements of Style, 4th ed. William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. PE 1408.S772 2000—Law Reference,

Law Reserve, and Law North (multiple copies)

Writing Guides

Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law

Review, 4th ed. Eugene Volokh. KF 250.V6 2010—Law Reserve (multiple copies) and Law

Reference

Clear and Effective Legal Writing, 4th ed. Veda R. Charrow, Myra K. Ehrhardt, and Robert P. Charrow.

KF 250.C45 2007—Law North and Law Reserve

Effective Legal Writing: For Law Students and Lawyers, 5th ed. Gertrude Block. KF 250.B6 1999—Law

Reserve

Elements of Legal Writing. Martha Faulk and Irving M. Mehler. KF 250.F38 1994—Law North (also

available as an e-Book in POLAR)

Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing: Structure, Strategy, and Style, 6th ed. Richard K. Neumann, Jr.

KF 250.N48 2009—Law Reserve

Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes, and Law Review Competition

Papers, 4th ed. Elizabeth Fajans and Mary R. Falk. KF 250.F35 2011—Law Reserve and Law

Reference

If you have more questions or need more help after looking at this research guide, please stop by the

law library reference desk. Our librarians are ready to assist you with your research!