LibGuides: International Law: General Sources: Getting started--classics, encyclopedias, databases, etc.

Classics, introductions & other books

See also:
Books, Ebooks, Working papers, etc.
Law reviews, journals, articles

Aust's Modern Treaty Law and Practice (4th ed, 2023)
Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law (8th ed, 2019)
Alvarez, The Impact of international Organizations on International Law (2017)
Alvarez, José E. International Organizations as Law-Makers, Oxford Scholarship Online
Weiler, Joseph, and Nissel, Alan T. International Law (2011)
Six-volume anthology of influential works on classical and contemporary international law.
Benchbook on International Law, Members of ASIL
Ed. by Diane Marie Amann.
Bowett's Law of International Institutions, Sands and Klein (6th ed, 2009)
Brierly's Law of Nations: An Introduction to the Role of International Law in International Relations (7th ed, 2012)
Brownlie's Principles of Public International Law, Crawford (9th ed, 2019)
Buergenthal and Murphy, Public International Law in a Nutshell (6th ed, 2019)
The Hague Academy's Collected Courses online/Recueil les Cours de L'Academie de la Haye en ligne, HeinOnline
The annual courses delivered at the Hague Academy of International Law by the world's foremost specialists in private and public international law.
Janis, International Law (7th ed, 2016)
Klabbers, International Law (4th ed, 2024)
Mansell and Openshaw, International Law: A Critical Introduction (2013)
Oppenheim's International Law: Vol 1 Peace (9th ed, 1992)
Oppenheim's International Law, Vol. 1 Peace (9th ed, 1992) (Online)
Oppenheim's International Law: United Nations, Higgins (2017)
Oxford Bibliographies: International Law
Oxford Handbooks Online: Law
The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law (2012)
The Oxford Handbook of the Theory of International Law (2016)
Research Handbook on the Theory and History of International Law (2d ed, 2020)
Restatement of the Law (Fourth), The Foreign Relations Law of the United States, Westlaw
The Fourth Restatement is a partial revision of the Third. On the Westlaw start page, the Restatements are listed under Secondary Sources.
Restatement of the Law (Third), The Foreign Relations Law of the United States, HeinOnlineAmerican Law Institute Library
The Restatements contain the expert, but non-binding, formulations of the law prepared by the American Law Institute. The Restatements are also in Westlaw Precision: Secondary Sources>Restatements & Principles of Law, and in print in the Law Library.
Routledge Handbook of International Law (2009)
Shaw, International Law (8th ed, 2017)
Satow's Diplomatic Practice (8th ed, 2023)
Thirlway, The Sources of International Law (2d ed, 2019)
Wiessner, General Theory of International Law (2017)

Encyclopedias, dictionaries & directories

Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford Public International Law
Each in-depth article concludes with a bibliography of books, articles and major documents. Print edition is at the Reference Desk.
Yearbook of International Organizations, Union of International Associations, Brill Online
Detailed descriptive information about 38,000 active and 30,000 dormant international organizations from 300 countries and territories. Current and historical statistics about the activities of international organizations.
Dictionary of International and Comparative Law (3d ed, 2003)
Guide to Latin in International Law (2d ed, 2021)
International Law: A Dictionary (2005)
The New Oxford Companion to Law, Oxford Reference
The New Oxford Companion to Law
The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History, Oxford Reference
Print edition: Reference Desk
Oxford Language Dictionaries
There are also foreign language dictionaries and legal dictionaries at the Reference Desk.
Parry and Grant Encyclopedic Dictionary of International Law (3d ed, 2009)
Who's Who in Public International Law

Websites, databases & research guides

See also Westlaw, Lexis+, HeinOnline, & Bloomberg Law.

International Legal Research in a Nutshell (3d ed, 2021)
By Marci Hoffman
International Legal Research in a Global Community (2018)
By Heidi Frostestad Kuehl & Megan A. O'Brien.
International and Foreign Legal Research: A Coursebook (2d ed, 2012)
By Marci Hoffman & Mary Rumsey.
International Law Legal Research (2013)
By Anthony S. Winer, Mary Ann E. Archer & Lyonette Louis-Jacques.
International Organizations, NYU Law Library
NYU Law Library databases - International Law
Expert, scholarly and professional organizations, NYU Law Library
Foreign & International Law Resources Database, HeinOnline
History of International Law, HeinOnline
Includes documents dating back to 1690 on International Law subjects such as War & Peace, the Nuremberg Trials, Law of the Sea, International Arbitration, Hague Conferences and Conventions and more.
LawPORT, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, Univ. of London
Designed for post-graduate researchers, LawPORT now includes tutorials on citation using OSCOLA (the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities), customary international law, and treaties and international conventions.
Oxford Public International Law
Oxford Reports on International Law, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law and OUP books and treatises on international law.
United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
Audivisual archives, lectures, legal resources.
more...less...
(1) The Historic Archives contains documents and audiovisual materials relating to the negotiation and adoption of significant legal instruments under the auspices of the United Nations and related agencies since 1945; (2) the Lecture Series features a permanent collection of lectures on virtually every subject of international law given by leading international law scholars and practitioners from different countries and legal systems; and (3) the Research Library provides an on-line international law library with links to treaties, jurisprudence (UN, regional, intl and natl), publications and documents, scholarly writings and research guides.
United Nations International Law pages
United Nations Legal Publications Global Search
United Nations Office of Legal Affairs
WorldLII International Law Library