International Law Basics

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Article 2: An international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation." 

May be bilateral or multilateral, self-executing or non-self-executing (requiring implementing legislation). 

When researching treaties, you may need citations, status (has it been ratified?), parties, reservations, protocols and amendments, and drafting history, as well as the full-text document.

U.S. Constitution Art. VI, cl. 2: Treaties under the Authority of the U.S. as "supreme Law of the Land."

U.S. Constitution Art. II, sec. 2, cl. 2: The President makes treaties, the Senate gives advice and consent by 2/3 majority of a resolution of ratification. Unlike with legislation, treaties remain pending at the end of a Congressional term. 

Executive Agreements are entered into by the President and don't require consent of the Senate. 

Information on U.S. treaties, with the Senate ratification process, can be found in CRS Report RL32528, International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law. 

Sources for U.S. Treaties:

• UST: United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (1950-1984): Available in print in the library in Government Documents at S.12, and on Hein Online, Lexis, Westlaw, and the Library of Congress. 
• TIAS: Treaties and Other International Acts Series (1981-most recent): Slip treaties by year entered into force. Find by year and then by country (or M for multilaterals). Find TIAS on the State Department website, Hein Online, Westlaw, and Lexis. 
• Senate Treaty Documents: Treaties as signed and submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with transmittal and submittal letters from the White House and the State Department. Treaty Documents will be available for any signed treaties, even if the treaty has not been ratified. Find them on congress.gov with status, actions taken, the resolution of ratification (with any US reservations, understandings, and declarations), and related Executive Reports from the committee. You can also find information and links to the Treaty Documents on the website of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 
• US Statutes at Large (1778-1949) included US treaties. Available on Hein Online.
• Historical treaty collections on Hein Online include Bevans (1776-1949) and Malloy (1776-1937). 
• Lexis USCS International Conventions includes major multilateral conventions to which the US is a party, with annotations to cases and secondary sources.
• IRS: US Income Tax Treaties by party

Finding US Treaties and Status:

• U.S. Treaties in Force: Index and finding aid to treaties in force, with citations and dates. Sections for bilateral treaties by party and subject, and multilateral treaties by subject. Available on the State Department website and on Hein Online. Hein Online has other treaty indexes as well, including Kavass' Guide to the United States Treaties in Force, Kavass's Current Treaty Index, and some earlier compilations and digests. 
• Hein US Treaty Search: Search the US Treaties and Agreements Library by full-text, keyword, short title, country, date, number, or subject. 
• State Department Pending Treaties list (treaties submitted to the US Senate but not ratified) and Senate Rejected Treaties list.
• Congress.gov: Find Treaty Documents for treaties both ratified and pending. 

UN Charter Article 102: "Every treaty and every international agreement entered into by any member of the United Nations shall as soon as possible be registered with the Secretariat and published by it."

The Secretary-General is the depositary of more than 560 multilateral treaties. 

United Nations Treaties

• United Nations Treaty Series Online: Includes most treaties registered with the UN, including bilaterals. Search by participant for bilaterals, or by title, subject, or multilateral parties. Includes links to the UNTS volumes. 
• United Nations Treaty Series on Hein Online: Find by citation or volume number, or use the Search for a Treaty option. 
• Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General: Arranged by subject area. Find status and parties, with links to the UNTS volumes.

United Nations Treaties by Subject

• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Core Human Rights Instruments (with monitoring bodies), Universal Human Rights Instruments, and Status of Ratification Dashboard
• World Intellectual Property Organization
• UNCITRAL (International Trade Law)
• UNODA (UN Disarmament Treaties)
• ECOLEX (UN Environmental Treaties, with treaty decisions, legislation, jurisprudence, and secondary literature)
• UNEP (UN Environmental Programme)
• UN Law of the Sea Treaties
• ILO Normlex (UN Labour Treaties)

Other Treaty Sources

• World Trade Organization Legal Texts
• WTO Database of Regional Trade Agreements
• UNIDROIT Instruments on private international law
• Hague Conference instruments on private international law
• Organization of American States Treaties and Agreements
• European Union Treaties Currently in Force
• Council of Europe Treaties and Conventions (including the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms)
• African Union Treaties and Conventions

Finding United Nations and other treaties

Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General: Arranged by subject area. Find major multilateral treaties with status charts and links to UNTS volumes

Hein Online: Search the UN Treaty Series. Or use the Treaty Search to find treaties by party name, popular name, dates, subject, keyword, or full-text. 

University of Minnesota Law Library Research Guide: Frequently-Cited Treaties & Other International Instruments. Treaties by subject area with citations and some links.

Flare Index to Treaties: Searchable database of information on significant multilateral treaties from 1600s onwards, and significant bilateral treaties from 1353 to 1815, with dates, sources, and some links.

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