International Law: General Sources: Treaty research materials & FAQs

This guide uses the term "treaty" as a shortcut for the various terms used for treaties, conventions, agreements, etc. The "depositary" of a treaty holds the official text and provides updated status and other information about the treaty. The depositary might provide a website, a finding tool or other resources to answer your research questions about the treaty. If a convention is monitored by an expert committee or body, the website of the monitoring entity is a great place to start for the text of the convention, explanation, status information about the treaty, required reports from states parties, documents relating to any complaint or dispute settlement procedure, publications, news, etc.. Selected examples include:

• United Nations Human Rights Committee
• United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• United Nations Climate Change: Kyoto Protocol
• World Trade Organization

More in-depth research may require several types of treaty research materials:

• full-text sources in print and/or online that provide the full text of treaties
• "finding tools," including print or online indexes, lists, and status tables, and also online websites and databases, that provide citations and vital information about a treaty and its status
• travaux préparatoires, the preparatory materials from the drafting, negotiation and adoption of a treaty
• commentaries, which print the treaty article-by-article with expert commentary on each article, possibly with citations to the travaux préparatoires and/or subsequent IGO documents, reports, domestic implementing laws, cases, or dispute settlements that show the implementation and application of a treaty. 

The FAQs on this page are typical treaty research questions. Each question points to the treaty research materials that can help you answer that FAQ.

• FAQ 1:  TREATY TEXTS
  What source can I use to read and cite to the treaty text; any reservations, understandings or declarations; and any subsequent protocols or related instruments? 
  • IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A CITATION TO THE TREATY SOURCE, treaty sources are listed on the following pages of this guide: 
    • Abbreviation dictionaries & citation manuals to decipher abbreviations of or identify treaty sources for a jurisdiction
    • Bluebook treaty sources (official and unofficial)
    • United Nations & League of Nations treaty sources
    • United States treaty sources--official
    • United States treaty sources--unofficial
    • General multilateral, historical & IGO treaty sources 
    • Selected special subject treaty sources
    • Bilateral treaties & treaty sources for countries outside the U.S. 
    • Very recent treaties will not be in "official" or print sources for some time, if ever. Try looking for them in an unofficial source, such as the website or a press release of the relevant IGO/treaty depositary, or in ILM. 
  • IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CITATION, use the relevant "finding tool" to find a citation, then find the source via the list above. 
    • Frequently-Cited Treaties and Other International Instruments, University of Minnesota Law Library
    • If you think it is a multilateral convention, start with the treaty finding tools for the UN or the IGO that is the treaty depositary. The depositary is usually a State or an IGO. One of the final clauses of a treaty should designate the depositary. 
    • If you think that the U.S. is a party to the treaty, use the finding tools for U.S. treaties: 
      • Treaties in Force
      • Updating TIF: Citations, signatories, parties, status, subjects 
      • Presidential statements, proclamations, etc. 
      • If it's a multilateral treaty, also consult the treaty finding tools for the UN or other relevant IGO/treaty depositary to confirm dates, parties and other status information that the U.S. treaty research materials might not provide. 
    • If you aren't sure what type of treaty it is, HeinOnline has three search engines that cover a large number of treaties.
      • HeinOnline UN Collection >search for a treaty
      • HeinOnline U.S. Treaty Index, U.S. Treaties & Agreements Library
      • HeinOnline Treaty Index, World Treaty Library
      • TIP: If you find your treaty or convention in HeinOnline, click on the icon for Display ScholarCheck statistics to see if any articles or cases have cited it.
    • Bilateral treaty finding tools
    • Additional general finding tools for treaties

• FAQ 2:  What treaties are relevant to my research?
  Use the same finding tools listed in the bullet of FAQ 1 entitled IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CITATION. In addition, read books and articles on your topic to determine what the experts say are the treaties relevant to your area of law. 
   
• FAQ 3:  What are the "vital statistics" of the treaty: signatories, parties, dates of signing & entry into force, status, is it still in force, has it terminated, has it been amended, etc.? 
  Use the same finding tools listed in the bullet of FAQ 1 entitled IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CITATION.
   
• FAQ 4:  Are there background materials ("travaux préparatoires," e.g., drafts, letters, documents, reports, etc.) or States Party materials from the drafting, negotiation and adoption of the treaty that might indicate how it was intended to operate? 
  See Commentaries & travaux préparatoires. 
   
• FAQ 5:  Is there an article-by-article expert/scholarly commentary on the treaty which might set forth the history, implementation or application of the treaty with citations to "travaux préparatoires," IGO documents, domestic laws, cases, etc.?
  See Commentaries & travaux préparatoires.
  
  
• FAQ 6:  Are there subsequent IGO documents, reports, domestic implementing laws, cases, or dispute settlements that show the implementation and application of the treaty? 
  • See the research guides and links in the tab International Organizations. 
  • Finding domestic implementing law and cases:
    • For the U.S.
    • For other countries, see Foreign Law by Jurisdiction. 
    • Read books and articles on the treaty to look for citations to domestic law and cases. 
    • The website of a relevant IGO or treaty depositary might also keep track of domestic law and cases. 
  • Case law/jurisprudence
  • Human rights 
  • Customary international law & state practice
  • International Law: Specialized Sources (arbitration, BITs, private international law, etc.)