Introduction to International Law - Sources in the UM Law Library: International Organizations

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A continuously increasing body of international law emanates from international and regional organizations. The Law Library's international organizations collection is housed on Level S-2, North Wing, except European Union materials, which are located in the EC Documents Center, S-2 Core (see 'Map of Sub 2' on the lower right corner of this page), and for new monographs that are being classified under the Library of Congress scheme, which are located on Level S-1North.

The arrangement of the collection is basically an alphabetical one, according to the most commonly used acronyms of the organization's name (e.g., Council of Europe = CE; Organization of American States = OAS) the only exception being the specialized agencies of the United Nations, e.g. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, etc. which are classified with the parent organization.

For each organization, an attempt has been made to obtain its basic documents, bulletins and annual reports.

Basic Reference Sources of International Organizations. There are several useful surveys of the law of international organizations.

• Bowett, D. W. The Law of International Institutions. 6th ed., 2009.

• Schermers, H. G. International Institutional Law. 2nd ed., 1980.

• Peaslee, A. J. International Governmental Organizations: Constitutional Documents. 3rd rev. ed., 1974-1979. 5 volumes. A brief history, lists of members, the address of headquarters and a brief bibliography are given for each organization.

• Yearbook of International Organizations. 1966- . Published by the Union of International Associations, the Yearbook contains entries for over 4,000 international organizations. Each entry gives the main publications of the organization, the body's purpose and membership, its address, date of establishment and various statistics.

Of the several hundred plus international organizations represented in the Law Library, the three most comprehensive collections are those of the United Nations, European Union, and World Trade Organization (WTO/GATT).

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