Treaty Research

Here are some question you should ask yourself before you start your research.

(1) Do I have a citation? If yes, skip to: With a Citation;

(2) Is the United States a party to the treaty? If yes, skip to: US a Party;

(3) If the US is not a Party, is the treaty multilateral or bilateral?

(4) What is the status of the treaty, is it in force or not?

Getting A Citation

To find a citation you can

(1) review the secondary source literature to see if someone else can provide you with a citation. Looking in a full-text law review database on Lexis or Westlaw is often the quickest way to find a citation, provided you have enough information about the treaty. Or

(2) look in an index. If you have less complete information about the treaty like just a date, there are many indexes organized by date of the treaty.

(3) Search for a treaty full-text on a full-text treaty database

The most useful indexes are probably:

  • Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status (Law Ref Desk and Annex Reserve JX 171 B68 1984) (often called "Bowman and Harris") Organized chronologically, this resource is only current through 1993. 
  • Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-general (Law Ref Desk JX171 M85), (the online site is currently under revision). An index to multilateral treaties held at the United Nations.
  • Treaties in Force (State Department) listing all treaties of the United State often with citations. Also available on HeinOnline.
  • Multilateral Treaty Calendar (1648-1995) (Law Ref KZ 118 W55 1998). 
  • EISIL (ASIL) links to treaties and provides citation information under "More Information".

If you know the treaty has the United States as a party these might be useful:

  • US Treaty Index (Law Annex JX236.5 U542 1991) which covers the period from 1776-1990
  • Current Treaty Index (Law Annex JX236.5 U543) (1990-present).
  • United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Cumulative Index (Law Annex JX236 U5452 1975)
  • Oceana Treaties Index.
  • Congressional Information Service Index for Senate Treaty Documents (Law Micro) also available as Congressional Universe. Under "Search by Number" you can select "Treaty doc."
  • CIS Index to United States Senate Executive Documents and Reports (Law Micro Indexes J74 C57 1987)

If you are not having any luck and know you are looking for a United Nations treaty you can look here:

  • UNTS Cumulative Index (Law Annex JX1977 A1 U5) includes treaties.
  • United Nations Documents ("UNDOC") Index (Law Annex Ref JX 1977 A1 U45)(current through 1996), or online via AccessUN (1945-present), both of which also include treaties.

And finally, If you are looking for an extremely old treaty and have not found anything using the sources above or if you are looking for a bi-lateral treaty not involving the United States the following might be useful.

  • World Treaty Index (Law Annex Ref JX171 .R64 1983) is the best index for bilateral treaties (current only through 1980).
  • Index to Multilateral Treaties (1965)(Law Annex Ref JX171 .H35)
  • Index-Guide to Treaties: Based on the Consolidated Treaty Series (Law Annex and Mugar JX120 P352)
  • Unpublished and Unnumbered Treaty Index (Law Annex Ref JX236.5 U57), only current through 1989, covers unpublished treaties.

With a Citation

Once you have a citation to a treaty, the process for finding the treaty is similar to locating any other legal material, like a case or a statute. First you will need to identify your citation. If it is unfamiliar to you there are sources for deciphering citations:

  • Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (Law Ref Desk, Law Annex, Law Reserve and Dictionary K 89 B53 2001)
  • Noble's Revised International Guide to Law Reports (Law Ref Desk K 38 N63 1998)
  • The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Law Ref Desk, Dictionary, Law Reserve and Law Annex Ref KF 245 B55 2005) (18th edition)
    • The correct format for citing treaties is found at Rule 21: International Materials (p. 168) and Table 4 (T.4, page 334).
  • Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations (Law Ref Desk K 83 R3 1993)

Now you will need to look for the source of the treaty. Where you look will depend on whether the United States is a party to the treaty or the United States is not a party to the treaty. Both processes are described below.

Just as with any legal research project, updating your research is important.

For those new to treaty research, it is useful to familiarize yourself with treaty terminology:

  • Treaty Reference Guide from the United Nations
  • Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Law Annex JX1226 E5) 

There are many additional resources which aid treaty researchers.


The United States is a Party to the Treaty

The US Constitution states that, "all Treaties...shall be the supreme Law of the Land" (Art VI), which the US Supreme Court has interpreted as all treaties, except those which by their language are not self-executing, automatically become federal law. (Whitney v. Robertson, 124 U.S. 190, 194 (1888)).

U.S. Treaty Ratification Process

The executive branch negotiates and signs treaties and international agreements, see the Handbook on Treaties and Other International Agreements which can be found at 11 Foreign Affairs Manual, Chapter 700 and the accompanying regulations at 22 C.F.R. Part 181.

Take a look at Marci Hoffman's excellent explanation of the US treaty making process, including the differences between a treaty and an executive agreement under US law.

For an update on treaty actions by the Department of State, see the Office of the Legal Advisor's Current Treaty Actions (1997-present).

After treaties are signed by the President, they go to the Senate for advice and consent. For an overview of this process, see Treaties and Other International Agreements: The Role of the United States Senate (S.Prt.106-71) (Law Annex KF4989 .A25 2001) or the Senate's Power and Procedures:Treaties.

There are MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) and other executive agreements which never go to Congress and must at least be reported to Congress under the Case Act. Recent executive agreements can be found at the State Department Office of the Legal Advisor website.

Treaties which have been submitted to the Senate are found in:

  • Senate Executive Documents (Law Micro) through the 96th Congress, part of the CIS fiche set.
  • Senate Treaty Documents, 97th Congress to present (cited as "T.Doc. number") also part of the CIS fiche set under "Search by Number" you can select "Treaty doc." Available on GPOAccess through 104th Congress.
  • Treaties, Conventions, International Agreements and Protocols (1776-1937) (Law Annex JX236 1910 and JX236 .U54 1938 Suppl). This is a compilation of Senate Treaty Documents prepared by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee current through 1937. Also available electronically on HeinOnline (.pdf format)
  • Senate treaty actions: Senate's listing of Treaties Received, Treaties Approved and Treaties Reported during the current legislative session. 

If the treaty receives the consent of the Senate, it is sent to the President for ratification. If the President does not ratify the treaty, it can be found in Unperfected Treaties of the United States (1776-1976) (Law Annex JX236 1776 U56).

Executive agreements, which in the United States are also referred to as international agreements, do not require the consent of the Senate, only the definitive signature of the President. However, under the Case-Zablocki Act, 1 U.S.C. §112b, all international agreements must be reported to both the House and the Senate within sixty days after the agreement has entered into force.

Sources for U.S. Treaties

There are several sources, both official government sources and commercial publications, for treaties to which the United States is a party. Official sources include:

  • Treaties and International Agreements Series, (TIAS) (Law Annex JX235.9 A32) - this is the first official publication in which a ratified treaty or international agreement will appear. It is cited as "TIAS number" and is about 5 years behind in publication. Available through HeinOnline in pdf format, covering TIAS numbers TIAS 11060 to TIAS 12734.
  • United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST) (Law Annex JX236 U545) is the official publication for treaties signed and ratified by the United States. It is cited as "vol UST page". If you have a UST citation you do not need the TIAS citation. The UST covers 1950 to present and is at this time about eight to ten years behind in publication.
    • UST via HeinOnline in .pdf format (Vols. 1-35,1950-1984)
    • Lexis (not in pdf format)
    • Westlaw: USTREATIES (not in pdf format) (Vol.1, part 1 through volume 35 part IV (TIAS 10978, 1984)).
  • Statutes at Large (Law Pappas) published treaties before the UST was established. It is cited as "vol# Stat. xxx (year)"

Because of the publication lag with official government treaty sources, try commercial publishers which often publish treaties within weeks of ratification.

  • Consolidated Treaties and International Agreements (1990-present) (JX236 1990 U54), cited as "CTIA number", publishes current treaties in paper within 90 days of release or ratification, listed by Senate Treaty Document number ("T.Doc. number").
  • TIARA Researcher (BULaw only) cited as "CTIA number", the online version of Consolidated Treaties and International Agreements.
  • United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Current Service, cited as "KAV number" (Law Micro JX236 1990 h25).


Historical Treaties

There are several good historical collections for older treaties to which the United States is a party:

Multilateral Treaties Where the United States is not a Party

 

United Nations

Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations requires every member country to register its treaties with the United Nations (UN). Unfortunately this registration process is not universally practiced, however, most major multilateral treaties are registered. These registrations take place with the Secretary General and are described in Summary of Practice of the Secretary General as Depository of Multilateral Treaties ST/LEG/7/Rev.1.The treaties that are registered are published by the UN.

  • United Nations Treaty Series, abbreviated "UNTS" (Law Annex JX1977 A1 U5) A citation to the UNTS reads "vol UNTS page".
    • UN Treaty Series (username:treaties password:12345 - the website is currently under revision). The database includes text of UNTS (PDF format). At this website you can also find treaties that have been deposited but not yet published in the UNTS.

Treaties registered before 1945 were registered with the League of Nations. These are found in:

  • League of Nations Treaty Series (Law Annex JX1975 A1 L4) and should be cited as "vol LNTS page".

Regional Organizations

Some regional organizations also publish the international agreements of member countries. The regional treaty reporters may be more current than the UNTS, include bilateral treaties or multilaterals which for one reason or another are not available in the UNTS.

  • Europe
    • Consult the Pappas Law Library European Union Guide
    • European Yearbook (Law Annex JX21 A5)
    • European Conventions and Agreements (Law Annex JX626 1971 C68).
    • Chart showing Signatures and Ratifications of Council of Europe Conventions and Agreements (Law Annex KJE110 E83), annually published by the Council of Europe includes the ratification status of various treaties.
    • Council of Europe Treaties including ratification status and reservations
  • Organization of American States
  • Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Compilations of Treaties

  • Treaties, Conventions and International Acts (1776-1923) (Law Annex JX236 1910)
  • Consolidated Treaty Series (CTS) (Mugar JX120 F69) (1648-1920) There is an index which is intended to supplement the CTS called the Index-Guide to Treaties (Law Annex and Mugar JX120 P352)
  • League of Nations Treaty Series (Law Annex JX1976 A1 L4) (1920-1946)
  • The Avalon Project at Yale has compiled some important historic legal and political documents, including major treaties.


Treaties by Subject

Finally, you may also search for treaties by subject area, in one of the numerous subject-oriented collections of treaties in paper and on the web, consult the Treaty Resources by Topic.


Bilateral Treaties where the United States is not a Party

If you have searched for a bilateral treaty where the United States is not a party in the indexes then it may not be possible to find a citation because it is not published in the series that those indexes are linked to. Some countries have treaty series like the United States. And many civil law jurisdictions print treaties in their official gazette. If you can locate the source of the treaty and a date then you might be able to browse for the treaty. Some helpful resources include:

 

Updating Treaties: Reservations and Status

For updating treaties to which the United States is a signatory, consult:

Finding reservations is more challenging. Reservations are not always published with the treaty. Reservations for UNTS multilateral treaties are printed in Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-general, and there are also Depository Notifications (both are password required which is available at the reference desk) which include reservations, declarations and various statements with which countries amend their ratificiation of a treaty. Some commercial sources may publish the reservations along with the treaty.

Additional Resources

Consult a reference librarian if you have any questions or need assistance with your treaty research.

 

Maintained by:Stefanie Weigmann
Last updated: August 2007