Treaty Research
Here are some questions 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; or
(3) Search for a treaty full-text on a full-text treaty database
Useful indexes:
- Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status (often called "Bowman
and Harris").
- Organized chronologically, this resource is only current through 1993.
- Law Ref Desk and Annex Reserve JX 171 B68 1984
- Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-general
- An index organized by subject to multilateral treaties held at the United Nations.
- Law Ref Desk JX171 M85 (current until 2006)
- Treaties in
Force (State Department)
- Lists all treaties of the United States 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.
If the United States is a party to the treaty:
- US Treaty Index (1776-1990)
- Law Annex JX236.5 U542 1991
- Current Treaty Index (1990-present)
- Law Annex JX236.5 U543
- United States Treaties and Other International Agreements
Cumulative Index
- Law Annex JX236 U5452 1975
- Oceana Treaties Index
- Thomas (90th - 111th Congress)
- Congressional Information Service Index
- Law Micro (cabinents 13 & 14); see also Senate Treaty Documents
- Congressional Universe
- CIS Index to United States Senate Executive Documents and
Reports
- Law Micro Indexes J74 C57 1987
No luck? ...and know you are looking for a United Nations treaty, look here:
- UNTS Cumulative Index
- Law Annex JX1977 A1 U5
- United Nations Law Collection (HeinOnline)
- UNTS Cumulative Index database (United Nations)
- United Nations Documents ("UNDOC") Index
- Law Annex Ref JX 1977 A1 U45 (current through 1996)
- AccessUN (1945-present)
No luck?... and looking for an extremely old treaty or a bi-lateral treaty not involving the United States, look here:
- 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...
- 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, 18th edition
- Law Ref Desk, Dictionary, Law Reserve and Law Annex Ref KF 245 B55 2005
- The correct format for citing treaties is found at Rule 21: InSternational Materials (p. 168) and Table 4 (T.4, page 334).
- Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations
- Law Ref Desk K 83 R3 1993
Next look for the source of the treaty... where you look will depend on whether:
Final Step:
-
Update your research!
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:
- Senate Executive Documents (through the 96th Congress): Contains the text of a treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President. The Executive Documents became known as Treaty Documents beginning with the 97th Congress n 1981.
- Law Micro (CIS fiche set)
- Senate Treaty Documents
(97th Congress to present ): Numbered consecutively from the first session through the second session of Congress.
- Law Micro (CIS fiche set) - (cited as "T.Doc. number")
- Congressional
Universe
- Under "Search by Number" tab, select "Treaty doc" in the publication number drop-down menu.
- GPOAccess ( 104th - 111th Congress) (PDF format)
- Treaties, Conventions, International Agreements and Protocols (1776-1937):
A compilation of Senate Treaty Documents prepared by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee current through 1937.
- Law Annex JX236 1910 and JX236 .U54 1938 Suppl
- HeinOnline (PDF format)
- Senate Treaty Actions: identifies treaties actions during the current Congress.
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): 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.
- Law Annex JX235.9 A32
- HeinOnline (PDF) covering TIAS 11060 to TIAS 12734.
- United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST)
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.
- Law Annex JX236 U545
- HeinOnline (PDF)(Vols. 1-35,1950-1984)
- Lexis
-
Westlaw : USTREATIES (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)"
- Library of Congress (1789-1873)
-
Westlaw : US-STATLRG, Vols. 8-64 (1789-1972)) - HeinOnline: United States Statutes at Large Library (PDF format)
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).
- HeinOnline (PDF) covers KAV 1-312
Historical Treaties
There are several good historical collections for older treaties to which the United States is a party:
- Treaties and other International Agreements of the United
States of America (1776-1949), called "Bevans"
- Law Annex JX236 U544 1974
- HeinOnline, Treaties and Agreements Library (PDF)
- Treaties and other International Acts of the United
States of America (1776-1863)
- Law Annex JX236 U543 1948
- HeinOnline, Treaties and Agreements Library (PDF)
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 (UNTS)
- Cited as "vol UNTS page"
- Law Annex JX1977 A1 U5
- HeinOnline, United Nations Law Collection: The database includes the UNTS in PDF format from inception. The database is searchable by citation and full text.
- UN Treaty Series: 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. (Note: This database is very difficult to use.)
The background or conference documents for the formation of a treaty are known as travaux preparatoires. These can reveal the positions parties took during negotiations. The UN has recently digitized these Diplomatic Conferences. Some of these documents are also available in an organized fashion:
- in our collection if you search for travaux preparatoire
- from the UNHCR for human rights treaties
- from UNCITRAL for trade treaties if you look under the individual treaties
- European Patent Convention'
- UN Convention against Organized Crime
Treaties registered before 1945 were registered with the League of Nations. These are found in:
- League
of Nations Treaty Series:
- Cited as "vol LNTS page"
- Law Annex JX1975 A1 L4
- League of Nations Treaty Series: The database includes the text of LNTS in PDF format. (Note: This database is very difficult to use.)
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
- Inter-american Treaties approved within the Framework of the OAS from the Organization of American States (OAS).
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations
- ASEAN Document Series which includes the Table of ASEAN Treaties/Agreements and Ratification
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:
- List of Treaty Collections
- Law Annex Ref JX120 L57 1981
- A Collection of Bibliographic and Research Resources: International
Law Bibliography (Law Annex JX3091 I67 1984) includes
a listing of foreign country's treaty series, including:
- United Kingdom Treaty Series (1892-1972) (Law Annex Micro JX636 1892) and Index of British Treaties (1101-1968) (Law Annex JX637.5 P37 1991)
- Canadian Treaty Calendar (1928-1978) (Law Annex JX357.5 W54 1983)
- Index to the Republic of South Africa Treaty Series (1926-1960 and 1961-1975)(African Studies JX1040 A75 K34 and K33)
- Some of the international law yearbooks published by individual countries detail the country's treaty actions for the year.
- International Legal Materials (1962-present)
- Law Annex and Law Micro
- LexisNexis (INTLAW: ILM)
-
Westlaw (ILM) - HeinOnline, Law Journal Library: contains select bilateral treaties in the section, "Treaties and Agreements".
- Consult Treaty Resources by Topic...Some bilateral treaties, like tax treaties, are published in subject-oriented collections.
- Internet Treaty Collections
- Armenia (click on Conventions)
- Austlii Australian Treaty Library includes updating information as well
- Austria Bilateral Treaties
- Belgium: Treaties from 1987
- Bolivia: Bilateral Agreements
- Canada Treaty Information
- Chile Tratados Internacionales (Library of Congress)
- Costa Rica Treaties (from the Foreign Ministry) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (from the Commerce Ministry)
- Croatia (Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship) mostly economic focus. And Status information for all treaties (Ministry of Foreign Relations)
- Ecuador Treaty Database (Ministry of Foreign Relations)
- Finland (Ministry of Justice)
- France (Senate)
- France current and historical treaties (MAE)
- Germany Selected Documents and Treaties
- Honduras Conventions and Treaties
- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Treaties and List of Treaties in Force
- India Bilateral Treaties (Ministry of External Affairs) from 1947. Look under "Bilateral Documents"
- Irish Treaty Series (from 2002)
- Korea, Republic of (MFA) Information about treaty process.
- Lithuania (Legislature) select "Treaty" under document type
- MexicoTreaties and Agreements (Camera de Diputados) recent only.
- Mexico Treaties (Secretary of External Relations)
- Netherlands (select Tractenblad)
- New Zealand Treaty Series
- Norway Treaties (LovData)
- South Africa Cyber Treaties Series
- Spain Treaties (Senado) in Serie IV of the Boletin Oficial del Senado
- Sweden Treaties (Regeringskansliet) select " Sveriges internationella överenskommelser (SÖ) " .
- Switzerland
- Tanzania Treaties (Law Reform Comission)
- United Kingdom Treaty Command Papers (from 2002)
Updating Treaties: Reservations and Status
For updating treaties to which the United States is a signatory, consult:
- Treaties in Force (Law Ref Desk and Annex JX236 S46)
- United States Department of State treaty actions (which replaces the Dispatch (Law Annex JX232 A333)).
- Shepards United States Citations (Law Pappas), Treaty section to shepardize treaties.
- Senate Treaty Actions
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
- Finding a Treaty When You Have a Citation from Harvard Law School Library's International Legal Studies (ILS) Reference Department
- Finding a Treaty When you Don't Have a Citation also from Harvard's ILS Reference Department
- Researching U.S. Treaties and Agreements by Marci Hoffman (on LLRX, updated 2005 )
- "Finding Treaties and Other International Agreements", by Jeanne Rehberg, published in Accidental Tourist on the New Frontier: An Introductory Guide to Global Legal Research, Rehberg and Popa, eds. (1998). See, Charts of Selected Treaty Sources, pp. 133-137.
- A la Recherche des Travaux Préparatoires: An Approach to Researching the Drafting History of International Agreements by Jonathan Pratter, published on NYU Globalex
Consult a reference librarian if you have any questions or need assistance with your treaty research.
Maintained by: Karina Condra
Last updated: February 2009