English For Lawyers

'open > opened 'enter > entering

An exception is that in British English 1 is usually doubled, even if the syllable is unstressed.

travel > travelled (US: traveled)



APPENDIX 3. PUNCTUATION

Full stop (.), question mark (?) and exclamation mark (!)

A sentence ends with one of these punctuation marks.

Full stop:

It's cold today. The office was closed. Please be careful

Question mark:

Who's that? Did you see the show? Could you wait, please?

Exclamation mark:

Oh, no! I don't believe it!

In the US a full stop is called a 'period'.

Semi-colon (;)

We can use a semi-colon between two separate statements which are linked in meaning.

Melanie is a very kind person; she visits David in hospital every day.

We could also use a full stop here.

Colon (:)

We can use a colon before an explanation or before a list.

There wasn't much in the fridge: a couple of sausages, some butter, half a bottle of milk.

Vicky felt nervous: she hated the dark.

Dash (--)

A dash is rather informal. It is sometimes used instead of a colon or a semi-colon.

I'm having a great time -- there's much to do here. Vicky felt nervous -- she hated the dark.

Comma (,)

We often use a comma when we link two statements with and, but or or.

Daniel was tired, and his feet were hurting. It's a really good camera, but I can't afford it.

Note the two subjects in each sentence: Daniel... his feet and It... I.

When there is only one subject, we do not use a comma.

Daniel sat down and took his shoes off.

We can also use a comma when a sentence has a linking word like when or although.

When the office is busy, Sarah has to work late.

Sometimes a comma can separate off an adverb or a phrase.

Sarah, unfortunately, has to work late. On busy days, Sarah has to work late.

Here the commas separate off on busy days and unfortunately.

The rules about commas are not very exact. In general, commas are more likely around longer phrases. With a short phrase there is often no comma.

On busy days Sarah has to work late. Sometimes she has to work late.

It is less usual to separate off something at the end of the sentence.

Sarah has to work late when the office is busy. She stayed late to get the work done.

We do not usually put a comma before to expressing purpose.

We also use commas in a list of more than two. The last two are linked by and, often without a comma.

I went out with Rachel, Vicky, Emma and Matthew.

Quotation marks (“)

We put direct speech in quotation marks.

Laura said, “You haven t put those shelves up yet.” I haven t had time” replied Trevor.

We normally use a comma to separate the direct speech from the rest of the sentence. The comma comes before the quotation mark. Quotation marks are also called “quotes” or “inverted commas”.

Double quotation marks are sometimes used.

Laura said, “You haven't put those shelves up yet.”

We can put quotation marks around titles.

Do you watch that American comedy series called “Roseanne”?

We often use quotation marks when we mention a word or phrase.

What does “punctuation” mean? Rap music is also called “hip hop”.

Hyphen (-)

We sometimes use hyphens in these structures.

Compound noun: eating ice-cream

Compound expression before a noun: an oven-ready meal

Noun formed from a phrasal verb: ready for take-off

Noun + ing-form: interested in rock-climbing

Before the last word of a compound number: a hundred and twenty-six people

After some prefixes: anti-aircraft guns

Letter + noun: sending an e-mail

The rules about hyphens are not very exact. For example, you may see a compound noun written as phonecard, phone-card or phone card. Hyphens are not very frequent in British English, and they are used even less in American English. If you are unsure, it is usually safer to write two separate words.

Apostrophe (`)

Look at these examples.

Today we're going for a drive in the country. Everyone is looking at Nick's car.

We use an apostrophe (`) in short forms, when there is a missing letter, e.g. we're (= we are). We also use an apostrophe with s to form the possessive of a noun, e.g. Nick's car.

Capital letters

There are two capital letters (big letters) in this sentence.

The boss said I could leave early.

We use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence and for the word I.

We also use a capital letter to begin the names of people, places, companies, etc.

Mark and Sarah New Orleans the High Street Somerset House General Motors

This includes the names of books, films, magazines, etc. All the important words start with a capital letter.

The Spy Who Loved Me Four Weddings and a Funeral

We also use a capital letter for days of the week, months of the year, holidays and festivals, historical times, nationalities and most abbreviations.

Monday August Easter the New Year the Industrial Revolution some Italian wine

the UN (= the United Nations)

APENDIX 4: Pronunciation

Key to phonetic symbols

Stress

In books about English, the symbol ` is used before a stressed syllable, the part of the word which is spoken with greater force.

midnight about exercise belonging

Here the syllables mid, bout, ex and long are stressed. It is important to get the stress on the right part of the word. Stressing a word incorrectly can make it difficult to understand.

Now look at these two sentences.

We want to protest against experiments on live animals.

We want to make a protest against experiments on live animals.

Protest as a verb is stressed on the second syllable. As a noun it is stressed on the first syllable. There are a number of words like this, e.g. conflict, contrast, export, import, increase, insult, produce, progress, protest, record, suspect, transfer, transport. Sometimes a change of stress means a change of vowel sound.

Verbs: produce, progress, record

Nouns: produce, progress, record

We also use stress to show which are the important words in a sentence.

“Claire's got a `lovely `flat. She `bought it last `year. It's `right in the `centre of `town.

Here the important words are Claire, lovely, flat and so on. We do not usually stress “grammatical words'” like a, she, the and of.

Intonation

The voice usually falls or rises on the most important word in the sentence. This word is usually at or near the end of the sentence.

Claire's got a lovely ? flat.

Here the voice falls when saying flat, which is the key word.

The symbol ? is used for a falling intonation and ? for a rising intonation.

Everything is more or less ? ready, (a statement)

Everything is more or less ? ready?, (a question)

The voice usually goes down in a statement and up in a yes/no question. In general, a fall means that what we say is complete. A rise means that what we say is incomplete, or it needs an answer.

The voice often rises in the first part of a sentence and falls at the end.

If you don't ? mind, I ought to be ? going.

There is always a fall or rise on the important part of the message. Which word is the key word depends on the meaning.

Voicing

Sounds can be voiced or voiceless. Voiced sounds are like those you make when you sing. All the vowels are voiced and some of the consonants. Voiceless sounds are like those you make when you whisper. Some of the consonants are voiceless.

The sending

We sometimes add the ending s or es to a word. For example we can do this to form the plural or the possessive of a noun.

some chairs the bushes Mark's car the woman's name

We can also add s or es to a verb.

It looks nice and sunny Tom watches the football on Saturday afternoons.

The pronunciation of s/es depends on the sound which is before it. The ending is pronounced s after a voiceless sound, z after a voiced sound, and iz after a sibilant sound.

Voiceless + s

shops ps gets ts takes ks

Voiced + z

jobs bz hides dz bags gz Laura's days eiz knows

Sibilant + iz

buses siz loses ziz crashes

The ed ending

We add ed or d to a regular verb to form the past tense or past participle.

We all walked home. They've closed the gates.

The pronunciation of ed depends on the sound coming before it. The ending is pronounced t after a voiceless sound, d after a voiced sound, and id after t or d.

Voiceless + t

hoped pt worked kt increased st

Voiced + d

robbed bd begged gd raised zd played eid allowed cared

t or d + id

wanted tid landed did

Weak forms

We are using a weak form when we pronounce is as s rather than iz, or we pronounce from as rather than . Normally a word like is or from is not stressed, and so we can use a weak form.

Notes on weak forms:

1 (r) means that an r-sound is pronounced before a vowel. In the phrase for a minute, the words for a are pronounced.

2 A, an and the are normally spoken in their weak form.

3 Some does not have a weak form when it means “some but not all”.

4 That normally has a weak form when it is a linking word, e.g. I knew that it was true. It does not have a weak form when it means something at a distance from the speaker, e.g. Look at that car. (See Unit 91.)

5 There normally has a weak form in a sentence like There's a bookshop in town. It does not have a weak form when it means “is that place”, e.g. The bookshop is over there .

6 A verb does not have a weak form in a short answer with yes.

Are you tired? ~ Yes, I am .

APENDIX 5: American English

The differences between British and American English are mainly matters of pronunciation and vocabulary. There are also a few spelling differences such as British centre and colour and American center and color. There are some grammatical differences. Although they are not very great, those points that are most relevant to learners of English are explained here.

Seem, look, etc

Compare these examples.

In British English there can be a noun (e.g. pilot) after appear, feel, look, seem and sound.

She seemed (to be) a good pilot

It looks (to be) a lovely evening.

I felt a fool

Americans do not say She seemed a good pilot. They use to be or like after these verbs.

She seemed to be a good pilot.

or She seemed like a good pilot.

It looks to be a lovely evening.

or It looks like a lovely evening.

I felt like a fool.

Present perfect and past simple

The British use the present perfect for recent actions, and especially with just, already and yet.

Bob has washed the dishes, look.

We've already eaten our lunch.

I've just seen Elaine.

Have you corrected your work yet?

The British normally use the present perfect with ever and never, not the past simple.

Have you ever played cricket?

The child has never seen snow before.

Americans can use either the present perfect or the past simple in these sentences.

Bob has washed the dishes, look.

or Bob washed the dishes, look.

We've already eaten our lunch.

or We already ate our lunch.

I've just seen Elaine.

or I just saw Elaine.

Have you corrected your work yet?

or Did you correct your work yet?

Americans normally use the past simple with ever and never, but the present perfect is possible.

Did you ever play baseball?

or Have you ever played baseball?

The child never saw snow before.

or The child has never seen snow before.

Shall

The British use will for the future, but they can also use shall in the first person.

I will/I shall be here tomorrow.

We will/We shall contact you.

The British use shall to make an offer.

Shall I make the coffee?

The British can use Shall we...? for a suggestion.

Shall we go for a walk?

Americans do not normally use shall for the future.

I will be here tomorrow.

We will contact you.

Americans normally use should.

Should I make the coffee?

Americans do not normally use shall in suggestions.

How about a walk?

Would you like to take a walk?

Got and gotten

Both have and have got are used in Britain and in the US.

He has a lot of money./He's got a lot of money. (= He is rich.)

The British do not use gotten.

He's made a lot of money from his business activities.

Your driving has got better.

In the US, have gotten expresses an action.

He's gotten/made a lot of money from his business activities.

Americans also use gotten meaning “become”.

Your driving has gotten better.

Negatives and questions with have

In Britain there are two different structures.

I haven't (got) enough time.

or I don't have enough time.

Has Carol got a computer?

or Does Carol have a computer?

Americans normally use the auxiliary do.

I don't have enough time.

Does Carol have a computer?

In the past tense, did is usual in both countries.

We didn't have tickets.

Emphatic do

The British can use do with an imperative for emphasis.

Have a piece of cake.

or Do have a piece of cake.

Do with an imperative is less common in the US.

Have a piece of cake.

Do for an action

The British can use do to refer to an action already mentioned.

I don't practise as often as I should (do).

You'd better take your pill. ~ / already have (done).

Americans do not use do in this way.

I don t practice as often as I should.

You'd better take your pill ~ I already have

Question tags

Both the British and the Americans can use question tags when talking about facts.

Blackpool is in Lancashire, isn't it?

Las Vegas is in Nevada, isn't it?

But in general Americans use tags much less often than the British. They do not use tags to persuade or to argue. A sentence like You aren't listening to me, are you? is British but not American. But Americans often use right? and OK? as tags.

I'll bring the luggage in, shall I?

I'll bring the baggage in, OK?

Can't and mustn't

The British use can't to say that something is impossible.

I rang, but there's no reply. They can't be at home.

Americans can also use mustn't to say that something is impossible.

I called, but there's no reply. They can't be home./They mustn't be home.

Needn't and don't need to

The British can use either form.

You needn't see the inspector.

or You don't need to see the inspector.

Americans do not normally use needn't.

You don't need to see the inspector.

Group nouns

In Britain a group noun can usually take either a singular or a plural verb.

The crowd was/were getting restless.

Sweden plays/play Germany tomorrow.

In the US a group noun takes a singular verb.

The crowd was getting restless.

Sweden plays Germany tomorrow.

The

The British use the with a musical instrument.

I can play the piano.

The British say in hospital.

My sister is still in hospital.

Americans can leave out the.

I can play piano/play the piano.

Americans say in the hospital.

My sister is still in the hospital.

Numbers

The British use and between hundred and the rest of the number.

six hundred and twenty

Americans can leave out and.

six hundred twenty

or six hundred and twenty

Dates

There are a number of different ways of writing and saying dates, but these are the most common.

BRITISH

23 June

“the twenty-third of June”

“June the twenty-third”

AMERICAN

June 23

“June twenty-third”

The British write 23.6.98, and Americans write 6.23.98.

You and one

The British use you for people in general, including the speaker. In more formal English they can use one.

You/One can't be too careful.

Americans use you for people in general. One is unusual.

You can't be too careful

Somewhere and someplace

In informal American English, everyplace, someplace, anyplace and no place can be used as well as everywhere, somewhere, etc.

Let's find somewhere to eat.

Let's find somewhere/someplace to eat.

Adjectives and adverbs

In informal speech we can sometimes use an adjective form instead of an adverb. Americans do this more than the British.

We had some really nice weather.

It certainly doesn't make things any easier.

We had some really nice/some real nice weather.

It certainly/sure doesn't make things any easier.

Prepositions

There are some differences in prepositions.

BRITISH

round/around the village

towards/toward the west

outside the town

looking out of the window

AMERICAN

around the village

toward the west

looking out the window/out of the window

outside the town/outside of the town

In American English there is a special use of through as a preposition of time.

He'll be on the road from Tuesday to/till Friday.

They will stay in Brighton until the end of April.

He'll be on the road (from) Tuesday through Friday.

They will stay in Miami through April.

Note the prepositions after different.

BRITISH

This cup is different from/to the others.

AMERICAN

This cup is different from/than the others.

Compare these expressions.

BRITISH

in Bond Street

at the weekend, at weekends

stay at home

a player in the team

ten minutes past four

twenty to seven

write to me

talk to someone

meet someone

AMERICAN

on Fifth Avenue

on the weekend, on weekends

stay home

a player on the team

ten minutes past/after four

twenty to/of seven

write me/write to me

talk to/with someone

meet with someone

The subjunctive

We can use expressions like I suggest that... and It's important that... to talk about what we want to happen. Look at these examples.

BRITISH

Tim's parents have suggested that he gets a job/that he should get a job.

It's important that everything goes/every thing should go according to plan.

The British normally use the present simple or should. (They use the subjunctive only in formal English.)

AMERICAN

Tim's parents have suggested that he get a job.

It's important that everything go according to plan.

Americans normally use a form called the “subjunctive”, e.g. get, go.

Go and...

Americans can leave out and from this structure.

I'll go and buy the tickets.

I'll go buy/I'll go and buy the tickets.

In case

In case can have different meanings.

BRITISH

Take an umbrella in case it rains. (= because it may rain)

AMERICAN

In case you're sick, you should call the office.

(= if you're sick)

Irregular verbs

In the past tense some verbs can have either an irregular t ending or the regular ed ending. These verbs are burn, learn, smell, spell, spill and spoil.

The British prefer the t ending, although ed is also possible.

They burnt/burned the old sofa.

You've spelt/spelled this word wrong.

Americans normally use the ed ending.

They burned the old sofa.

You've spelled this word wrong.

But we say e.g. a slice of burnt toast in both British and American English.

In Britain the verbs dream, lean and leap can be regular, or they can have a t ending.

I dreamt/dreamed about you.

I dreamed about you.

The verb dive is regular in Britain but can be irregular in the US.

Craig dived into the water.

Craig dived/dove into the water.



APPENDIX 4. RECOMMENDED WEBSITES

1.1 Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) - www.hrea.org

British Council (The) - Ukraine (main page) http://www.britishcouncil.org/ukraine

Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative http://www.abanet.org/ceeli

Central Europe Online http://www.einnews.com/centraleurope/

Colleges and Universities - Ukraine http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/cdemello/ua.html

Open Society Justice Initiative (ex-COLPI) http://www. j usticeinitiative.org/

Council of Europe http://www. coe. int/portalT. Asp

Council of Europe - Human Rights section http: //www. coe. int/T/E/Human ri ghts

European Court of Human Rights '

http://www.echr.coe.int (new judgments appear on the day they are handed down +some Commission decisions)

DFID Headquarters http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

Europe 40+ (Council of Europe Newsletter) (in Ukrainian/Russian) http://www.coe.kiev.ua/europe40+.htm

Full text of the ECEIR

http://conventions.coe.int/Treatv/EN/CadreListeTraites.htm

The European Union http://europa.eu.int

HRLC, School of Law, University of Nottingham http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/law/hrlc.htm

Human Rights in the administration of Justice http://hrdatabase.be.kiev.ua/

Human Rights Watch: Prison Conditions and the Treatment of Prisoners

http://www.hrw.org/hrw/advocacv/prisons/

Human Rights Watch: Prison Conditions in Europe and Central Asia http://www.hrw.org/hrw/advocacv/prisons/europe.htm

Internet Law Library: Ukraine http://www.priweb.com/intemetlawlib/182.htm

Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights http://www.echr.coe.int/eng/Judgments.htm

KCL: International Centre for Prison Studies http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/

Libraries in Ukraine

http:// sunsite.Berkelev.EDU/Libweb/Ukraine. Html

The Lord Chancellor's Department - Human Rights http://www.humanr I ghts. go v. uk/

Ministry for Internal Affairs (Ukraine) http://www.mia.gov.ua/

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) http://www.osce.org

Penal Reform International

http://www.penalreform.org/english/frset pre en.htm

Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations http://www.uamission.org/

Probation Unit (UK Home Office) http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/cpd/probu/probu.htm

REENIC (University of Texas) Ukraine links http://reenic.utexas.edu/reenic/countries/ukraine.html

Relief Web - Country Profile: Ukraine (Ukraine Links)

http://wwwnotes.reliefweb.int/websites/rwdomino.nsf/VBackgroundCountry

UABA Ukrainian American Bar Association http://www.uaba.net

Ukraine Amnesty International (Publications and news releases) http://www. amnesty.or g/ailib/countries/indx45 0.htm

Ukrainian Bar Associations & Lawyers http://brama.com/law/bar-lawvers.htm

Verkhovna Rada of UKraine - search for Ukrainian legislation http://www.gov.ua.

2.1 General Search Engines

There are a variety of Internet search engines (see below) which can be used for searching for information on a particular topic by simply typing in a keyword or phrase. For example, if the human rights issue being researched is “refugees” type in “refugees” + “human rights”. Some general search engines are listed here. However, as a search for human rights information can produce an immense volume of less relevant material, general human rights sites (see below) may be a more efficient starting point.

Website	English Language URL	Ukrainian/Russian Language URL
Google	http://www.google.com	http://www.google.com/ruhttp://www.google.com/intl/uk/
Lycos	http://www.lycos.com	http://www.lycos.ru,http://www.lycos.com.ua
MavicaNet	http://www.mavicanet.com	http://www.mavicanet.ru,http://www.mavicanet.ru/directory/ukr/
Yahoo	http://www.yahoo.com
Altavista	http://www.altavista.com
Weblist		http://weblist.ru/index
Russia on the Net		http://www.ru
Aport		http://www.aport.ru
Yandex		http://www.yandex.ru
Bigmir		http://www.bigmir.net

2.2 Human Rights Web Sites

Some web-sites dedicated to human rights generally contain extensive collections of primary (e.g. International treaties, decisions of international and national courts and other tribunals) and secondary information (e.g. NGO and academic materials etc). These sites are often maintained by Universities or large human rights organisations The best of these sites present information in clear categories, allowing easy use. Such sites often contain links to other related sites.

A few examples of some comprehensive and regularly updated human right web-sites are included here:

DIANA Project

http://www. law-lib, utoronto.ca/Diana.htm

http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/index.html

http://www.vale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diana/

The Diana project is a comprehensive database of electronic human rights materials. It is the result of collaboration between a number of law librarians, university based human rights centres, and non-governmental human rights organisations. The Diana project is divided between three different web-sites, each one is dedicated to serving a different function.

„The first is the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library, please see description of this web-site (below). The second is the Yale Law School Library which contains a collection of litigation documents used in human rights related cases in US courts. The third collection focuses on women's rights and international human rights law, and is maintained by the Bora Laskin Law Library (at the University of Toronto). Each of the three websites have simple search engines.

Minnesota Human Rights Library http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/

The University of Minnesota Online Human Rights Library contains an extensive collection of human rights documentation. It contains treaties, declarations, resolutions, opinions and decisions from international tribunals and treaty bodies. Materials are divided into searchable sections. The human rights documentation and materials section contains over 10,000 documents. Another section details other human rights search engines. The online Human Rights Library provides an extensive list of links to other sites. Material is accessible in the six official languages of the UN, (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian).

Human Rights Internet http://www.hri.ca

Founded in 1976, the Human Rights Internet (HRI) is dedicated to empowering the human rights community by providing a means to exchange information. It is practice-oriented, containing information useful to human rights professionals, human rights education materials, and a human rights calendar detailing conferences and events etc.

The HRI also contains an immense amount of information on interna¬tional human rights law. Central to this is the For the Record (FTR) project, an electronic annual report providing summaries of relevant human rights information which can be found at http:// www.hr i. ca/forthe - record2002/ftrchoice.html.

The first FTR project focuses on information generated in the United Nations (UN) system. This report assembles all relevant UN documentation regarding the human rights situation in each country. In addition the FTR UN project organises material into thematic categories, which summarises concerns relating to key issues and the UN action taken in response.

The FTR project was expanded in 2000, to include a two-year pilot project focusing on human rights developments within the Council of Europe. For the Record: The European Human Rights System is organized thematically and by country, in parallel to For the Record: the UN Human Rights System. The FTR Europe project is currently interrupted, however, HRI is exploring the possibility of re-releasing it in a different format with revised content.

HURIDOCS http://www.huridocs.org/index.htm

Based in Switzerland, Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems is a global network of organisations (including regional networks) specialising in effective ways of using information for the cause of human. rights. Its web-site contains a range of human rights publications and training tools etc.

International Service for Human Rights http://www.ishr.ch/

Specialising in the UN system, the ISHR web-site is designed to inform human rights defenders and organisations around the world on United Nations proceedings and procedures. Its web-site provides details of activities before UN Treaty and Charter Bodies as well as information on human rights training and events.

3. International Organisations

The general human rights sites above provide an excellent starting point for online human rights research. These sites all include links to International organisations mandated to promote and protect human rights.

3.1 United Nations

As the principal universal human rights organisation the UN web-site provides a vast amount of human rights information. The UN human rights system is complex, and can be confusing to those without any direct experience of it. The UN can draft and open for signature international human rights treaties. It can also set up (either as part of the treaty, an additional protocol, or by a decision of a UN body) bodies to monitor the implementation of those treaties and establish bodies to examine human rights in general. The UN as an organisation also contains many departments and agencies which have an impact on international human rights law, policy and practice. This section provides an overview of some of the key human rights elements of the UN which can be found online.

United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights: http://www.unhchr.ch

Formerly called the Centre for Human Rights, the HCHR web-site is one of the best sources of UN human rights information on the Internet. It contains full-text versions of the major human rights instruments (while some are available in Russian, many are still only available in English, French and Spanish), various reports and resolutions from UN bodies, as well as online human rights education materials.

Useful features of this site include:

International Human Rights Instrument list:

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/intlinst.htm

This list separates international human rights instruments (including treaties, declarations and principles) into useful categories such as rights of the child, human rights and the administration of justice, etc.

Treaty Bodies Database: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf This provides information generated by the six bodies that have been established to monitor the terms of specific human right treaties.

Human Rights Committee monitoring body of the ICCPR http://www.unhchr. ch/html/menu2/6/hrc.htm

Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights body established to monitor ICESCR http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/cescr.htm

Committee Against Torture (CAT).

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/cathtm

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/cedw.htm http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/committ.htm

Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) http://www. unhchr. ch/html/menu2/6/crc.htm

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/cerd.htm

Charter Bodies Database:

This database contains information produced by bodies established under the Charter of the United Nations - as opposed to those which have been set up to monitor a specific treaty. These bodies include, the Committee on the Status of Women, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the General Assembly (GA), the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Secretariat, the Security Council, the Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and the Commission on Human rights (which is one of the most active Charter bodies in terms of human rights material) http://www. unhchr. ch/html/menu2/2/chr.htm

Thematic Mandates: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/tm.htm Country Mandates: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/a/cm.htm

These pages link to documentation, news and the Special Rapporteur (if applicable) of the country or theme.

United Nations: http://www.un.org

The main UN web-page is maintained by the Department of Public Information, and as such provides useful background information to the UN (e.g. history, the UN Charter, list of member states).

There are several pages which may be of interest to the human rights researcher:

- Human Rights page: http://www.un.org/rights/ which provides more specific UN human rights information and a useful list of list.

- Collection of Documents from the Secretary-General, General Assembly, Security Council and Economic and Social Council: http://www.un.org/documents/

United Nations Treaty Collection: http://untreatv.un.org This database provides on-line access to all UN treaties and related information such as a treaty reference guide. However, this is now a fee- based service. For subscription information see: http://untreatv.un.org/English/howtoreg.asp

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

The responsibility of UNHCR for refugees raises many human rights issues with an array of information contained in the Research and Evaluation section of the UNHCR site:

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home?page=research

This section divides information on refugees into useful categories: Country of Origin (COI) and Legal Information: http://www.unhcr.ch/research/rsd.htm This contains materials, including, reports and documents on COI and legal information, news and maps. Information is arranged by country or subject.

UNHCR Library: http://www.unhcr.ch/research/librarv.htm This page allows the UNHCR library catalogues to be searched, by subject, author, title, publisher, year, language, or keyword

Protecting Refugees:

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home?page=protect

This page provides an introduction to the issues affecting the protection of refugees. It also provides in-depth information on the legal protection of refugees through international law, global consultations and details of capacity building etc.

UNICEF (The United Nations Children Fund) http://www.unicef.org UNICEF is a specialised agency of the UN dealing with Children. The UNICEF website is an excellent resource for information concerning children's human rights. It contains several useful features:

About UNICEF: http://www.unicef.org/about

This sections provides an introduction to UNICEF, its history and current work.

UNICEF in Action: http://www.unicef.or g/action This site is divided into sections containing materials relating to the UN Special Session on Children, Child Rights, and Programmes. Of particular interest to researchers will be the:

“Research and Evaluation” section http://www.unicef.org/reseval This provides access to statistics on women and children (including national figures, global comparisons and explanations), monitoring methods, database containing abstracts of UNICEF's latest evaluation reports and studies. This section also contains a link to:

UNICEF Research Centre: http://www.unicef-icdc.org This centre undertakes research on children's rights and the site provides access to publications and reports.

Information Resources: http://www.unicef.org/infores This site provides on-line access to some UNICEF publications and details on how to obtain information.

International Labour Organisation (ILO): http://www.ilo.org The establishment of the ILO, a specialised agency of the UN (since 1946), precedes the UN as it was founded in 1919 (as part of the Treaty of Versailles). The ILO has adopted an impressive number of conventions concerned with human rights in the area of protection of the worker, working hours, adequate living wages, recognition of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, freedom of association etc. The main ILO page allows access to the following materials:

International Labour Standards and Human Rights page: http://www.ilo.org/public/English/standards/norm/index.htm

This provides helpful background information on international labour standards and ILO conventions and the ILO's legal information services:

ILOLEX: database on International Labour Standards: http://ilolex.ilo.ch: 1567/public/English/50normes/infleg/iloeng/index.htm

NATLEX: bibliographic database containing domestic laws relating to labour, social security and human rights: http://natlex.ilo.org/scripts/natlexcgi.exe?lang=E

Legislative Information: monthly bulletin of recent labour legislation: http://natIex.ilo.org/leginf/english/index.htm Conventions:

http://ilolex.ilo.ch: 1567/public/EngIish/docs/convdisp.htm Recommendations: http://ilolex.ilo.ch: 1567/public/English/docs/recdisp.htm

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO): http://www.unesco.org UNESCO, a specialised agency of the UN, is mandated to contribute to international peace and security by promoting co-operation between States through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and human rights and fundamental freedoms. The main web-page contains details about the organisation, publications, current events, programmes, documents and databases. Features which may be of particular interest are:

The Standard Setting Instruments in Human Rights: http://www.unesco.org/human rights/hrcontent.htm This provides an introduction to UNESCO's human rights work as well as relevant conventions, recommendations, declarations and other materials.

The Legal Instruments Section: http://www.unesco.org/general/eng/legal/index.html contains a selection of conventions and agreements, as well as some full text documents.

Complaints Concerning Violations of Human Rights in UNESCO's fields of competence: http://www.unesco.org/general/eng/legal/hrights

This link provides information on the UNESCO human rights complaint procedure.

4.2 Regional Organisations - Europe

Most of the world's regions have specialised international organisations concerned with human rights. This section will focus solely on the European mechanisms as these will be most relevant to the Ukrainian context. As with the UN, the structure of the European regional systems can be a little daunting, as there are several overlapping organisations, principally the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This section highlights these three organisations as the ones as the longest established organisations and with the most developed internet presence.

The Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int

The CoE comprises 46 democratic countries of Europe with the aim of protecting human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe is distinct from the EU, however all the member States of the EU are also members of the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe's homepage contains links to other sections which may be of interest, these include:

Human Rights section: http://www.coe.int/T/E/Human rights

This section contains extensive information on CoE activities and programmes, including treaties, declarations, reports and publications, in the following areas: the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Court of Human Rights and recent judgments; torture prevention; national minorities; media; equality and men and women; combating racism; police and human rights; and awareness raising.

The Human Rights Commissioner: http://www.commissioner.coe.int

The Council of Europe, Human Rights Commissioner is mandated to promote awareness of human rights in Member States, to identify any shortcomings in human rights laws or practice, and to help ensure effective observance of the human rights standards as set out in various CoE instruments. This web-site contains various documents of the Commissioner: reports of official country visits, seminar outcomes, recommendations and opinions.

Directorate of Legal Affairs: http://www.coe.int/T/E/Legal Affairs

There are several departments within the Directorate of Legal Affairs which are useful:

The Treaty Office: http://conventions.coe.int

This site contains all CoE treaties, information on ratifications and signatures, registered declarations and reservations.

European Commission for Democracy through Law: http://www.venice.coe.int/site/interface/english.htm

This is an independent advisory body providing guidance on constitutional issues. This site also allows access to CODICES database (http://codices.coe.int) which contains reports on the case-law of Constitutional Courts and Courts of equivalent jurisdiction in Europe, together with case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities (EU).

European Court of Human Rights: http://www.echr.coe.int The European Court of Human Rights is the judicial body established by the Council of Europe's European Convention on Human Rights, which adjudicates upon alleged human rights violations by member States. This web-site contains:

General Information: http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/General.htm Pending cases: http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/Pending.htm Judgments and decisions: http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/Judgments.htm Basic texts: http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/BasicTexts.htm Press Releases: http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/PressReleases.htm

Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE): http://www.osce.org (Formerly known as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE))

The OSCE is the world's largest regional security organisation, with 55 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America. The OSCE deals with a broad range of security-related issues such as arms control, preventive diplomacy, dйmocratisation, election monitoring and human rights. The homepage contains access to information about current events, news, field programmes, documentation and publications. Two OSCE Departments are particularly relevant to human rights.

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR): http://www.osce. org/odihr/overvie w/

Based in Warsaw, this is the institution of the OSCE responsible for the organisation's `human dimension'. This page provides access to OSCE documentation on election monitoring, assistance with dйmocratisation and monitoring the development of human rights law and practice and the compliance of members.

The Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities: http://www.osce.org/hcnm/

Based in The Hague, this independent Office was established to identify and seek early resolution of ethnic tensions that may undermine the peace, stability or friendly relations of OSCE participating States. This site provides access to the High Commissioner's recommendations made to OSCE governments regarding their treatment of their national minorities.

The European Union: http://europa.eu.int

The EU is a regional organisation which has moved from a purely economic mandate to one which operates on many legal-political levels, including human rights. Unlike other European regional organisations, the EU does not have a centralised human rights division. Thus its homepage allows one to explore the policy areas of the EU such as “development”, “equal opportunities” or justice and home affairs”, which include human rights materials.

...