International law and international organisations

International law means the body of legal rules, principles, practices and concepts that apply between states and other legal international actors.

The Library of Parliament is a specialist library on the activities of international organisations.

​International organisations collection

The Library of Parliament international organisations collection focuses mainly on documents and publications of the UN and its specialised agencies, such as the ILO, IMF, IMO and the League of Nations. In addition, the collection includes documents and publications of the Council of Europe, OECD, WTO, OSCE, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The library receives or acquires these documents either selectively or in their entirety. The Library of Parliament houses, for example, the largest selection of materials produced by or regarding the UN.

International law publications are one focus area for the library acquisitions. The Information Service assists with finding information on the activities of organisations and with using the documentation. The Library also provides open training sessions on the information sources on international organisations.

Information package on international law

International law is the body of legal rules, principles, practices and concepts that regulates relations between states and other legal international actors. The information package is available on our Finnish pages.


UN information package

The United Nations is the most important intergovernmental organisation in the world. The UN information package contains information from the key sources on the UN and short introductions concerning the main UN bodies. The information package is available in Finnish only.

Council of Europe information package

The Council of Europe information package contains information from the key sources on the Council of Europe. The information package is available in Finnish only.

Lisää tietoa OECD-tietopaketista.

Information package of the OECD

The OECD is an international economic organisation of 36 member nations. The organisation was founded in 1961. Available in Finnish only.

Information package of the League of Nations

The League of Nations was established between the winning nations (Allied) of the World War I. The charter was founded in the 10th of July 1920 after the Paris Peace Conference, a hundred years ago today. Available in Finnish only.

Information package on Finland’s accession to the United Nations

The information package describes how Finland applied for the UN membership in 1947 and how Finland became a UN member state in 1955. This information package is available in Finnish only.

Lisää tietoa Pohjoismaiden neuvosto -tietopaketista.

Information package on the Nordic Council

The Nordic Countries have convened in the context of the Nordic Council since the 1950s. This information package provides an introduction to the Council and a brief description of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Available in Finnish only.