Fundamentals of Treaty Research:
U.S. and Non-U.S. (Electronic Resources)
by Lyonette Louis-Jacques

Special Libraries Association
Annual Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana
"Fundamentals of Treaty Research", June 8, 1998
Panel sponsored by Oceana Publications, Inc.
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/treaties.html

Updated on 27 June 2001.

Research Guides

Some basic steps to take in using electronic resources to find treaties:

1. Start with LEXIS or WESTLAW (both have the full text of U.S. treaties available, selected major treaties via International Legal Materials and Basic Documents of International Economic Law, as well as specialized collections of key treaties on trade, taxation, intellectual property, etc.).
2. Check Oceana's U.S. Treaties Researcher (TIARA) database on the World Wide Web or the United Nations Treaty Collection database on the Internet (if you don't have access to LEXIS and WESTLAW or the costs are prohibitive).
3. Check web sites or electronic publications of international organizations (inter-governmental or non-governmental organizations (IGOs or NGOs) such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Greenpeace), government agencies (the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for instance), research centers, educational institutions, or associations specializing in the area, etc., for texts of treaties.
4. Backtrack for more information (or get more information about the treaty you are looking for to begin with) by checking Treaties in Force (or other treaty indexes), library catalogs (OCLC's WorldCat via FirstSearch, RLG's RLIN Bibliographic File as a CitaDel database with Eureka interface, etc., or individually cataloged treaties - U.K. treaties for instance published as Command Papers), news stories, journal articles (TP-ALL on WESTLAW is really useful), or Internet search engines such as Altavista.
5. If all else fails (or time is of the essence, and some quick checks locally don't help), call treaty offices or other agencies and organizations, or ask for help on related electronic discussion groups (such as INT-LAW).

Some useful research guides exist for getting background information, references to treaty collections, and links to Internet resources, on how to look for treaties in print and electronic format. You can check any of the ones below:


• Treaties and Other International Agreements: The Role of the United States Senate (Ellen Collier ed., 1993; online version via Oceana, 2000). See also Senate Brief on Treaties.
• Christopher C. Brown, Locating Current Treaty Information on the Internet, CoALL Scuttle, April 1998, at 6 (Colorado Association of Law Libraries newsletter online)
• Edward Herman, U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements: Government Resources (University of Buffalo Lockwood Library; includes special links to Tax and Native American treaties)
• Marci Hoffman, Researching U.S. Treaties and Agreements (LLRX, May 15, 2001)
• Marci Hoffman, Researching Public International Law (Part I): Treaty Sources (University of Minnesota Law Library, International and Foreign Legal Research seminar, September 1997)
• Veronica Maclay, Searching for U.S. and International Treaties (Legal Information Guidepost #5; University of California - Hastings College of the Law Library, July 1995)
• Marian L. Nash, "Treaty Research for Practitioners in the United States", in 1 Basic Documents of International Economic Law xv-xxi (Chicago, IL: Commerce Clearing House, 1990); available online on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, BDIEL file as 1991 BDIEL AD LEXIS 37, and on WESTLAW as "Basic Treaty Research", in the IEL database as I.E.L. TREATY (December 13, 1988)(Ms. Nash is listed therein as Editor of the Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State)
• Linda Karr O'Connor, International and Foreign Legal Research: Tips, Tricks, and Sources, 28 Cornell International Law Journal 417 (1995); on WESTLAW at 28 CNLILJ 417 or TP-ALL
• Radu D. Popa, International Treaty Research (New York University Law School Library, April 1997)
• Ceceile Kay Richter, Search Strategies: Researching Treaties and Other International Agreements (Law Library Resource Xchange, July 22, 1997)
• Amber Lee Smith, Guide to International Treaties (Los Angeles County Law Library, January 1995)
• Edwin Surrency, How the United States Perfects an International Agreement, 85 Law Library Journal 343 (1993); on WESTLAW at 85 LLIBJ 343 or the TP-ALL database.
• Suzanne Thorpe, "A Guide to International Legal Bibliography: International Conventions", in Contemporary Practice of Public International Law 24-38 (Ellen G. Schaffer & Randall J. Snyder eds., Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1997; sponsored by the American Association of Law Libraries)(includes references to electronic resources)
• Leanne Walther, Treaty Research Workshop (University of Colorado Libraries, December 1, 1997; also includes link to Leanne Walther's "Finding International Treaties Cheat Sheet")
• Jill Watson, ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Treaties (American Society of International Law, March 22, 1998; updated twice a year)
• Stefanie Weigmann, Researching Non-U.S. Treaties and Agreements (LLRX, May 15, 2001)
• Mary Whisner, Electronic Media in International Legal Research (Special Libraries Association Conference, June 9, 1997)
• Paul Zarins, A Guide to Treaty Research (Jacob Burns Law Library, George Washington University National Law Center, Legal Research Guide Series, Basic Research Guide #7, July 1995)
• Commando Legal Research: International Law (Robert C. Berring; 65-minute video including segment on treaty research sources, with handbook; 1990)
• Foreign Governments and International Organizations: Treaties (University of California - Davis Library)
• Locating Treaties (Information Bulletin, Edwin Ginn Library, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, February 4, 1998)
• Finding U.S. Treaties (Cardozo Law Library Research Guide)
• Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Research of International Law Issues Using the Internet (University of Chicago DAngelo Law Library)
• Electronic Discussion Groups (the INT-LAW, INTL-DOC, etc., lists):
  

  INT-LAW (Foreign and International Law Librarians List; includes discussion of foreign, comparative, and international legal print, electronic, and "people" resources, including for Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia; exchange of international legal documentation and information).

  To subscribe, send e-mail to majordomo@listhost.ciesin.org with only the following text in the body of the message:
  

       subscribe int-law
  

  Archives for the most recent INT-LAW messages (beginning in April 1998) are available at http://listhost.ciesin.org/lists/public/int-law/.

  INTL-DOC (International Documents Librarians List; for individuals working with intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) (such as the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), OECD, WTO, etc.) documentation and other users of IGO material; queries concerning the literature of foreign national governments and of international affairs in general will be welcomed).

  To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.acns.nwu.edu with only the following text in the body of the message:
  

       subscribe intl-doc Your Name
  

  More information about the INTL-DOC list is available at http://www.library.nwu.edu/govpub/idtf/intl-doc.html (this page also includes a link to the home page of the International Documents Task Force (IDTF) of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), American Library Association and resources on international organizations).

  Additional law library-related lists worldwide that might be useful for guidance in doing treaty research are included at:
  

  http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/lawlists/libslist.html.

Treaties to Which the United States is a Party

United States Treaty Collections: General

• United States Statutes at Large (available on CD-ROM and via the Internet from Potomac Publishing Company):
  

       The United States Statutes at Large (Stat.) is a
       chronological compilation of laws passed by the U.S. Congress. 
       It is the official source of U.S. treaties concluded with 
       foreign nations prior to 1949 (volume 8 compiles foreign treaties
       from 1778 to 1845)) and of treaties with Indian tribes (volume 7 
       compiles Indian treaties from 1778-1845).  Volume 64 includes a
       comprehensive list of all treaties published in U.S. Stat.
  

• LEXIS (United States treaties and other international agreements in force provided by Oceana Publications from 1783 to date, INTLAW library, USTRTY file; USTRTY file not available on educational/academic accounts)
• WESTLAW (United States treaties and other international agreements via the USTREATIES database; coverage begins with T.I.A.S. No. 10869 (June 18, 1979), Senate Treaty documents from the 103rd Congress in 1993, and State Department documents from State Dept. No. 90-1; documents provided by the United States Senate or Department of State)
• International Legal Materials (bi-monthly publication of the American Society of International Law begun in 1962 including selected major treaties (useful to check for recent, "hot", international agreements); on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, ILM and ILMTY files from 1975 to date, on WESTLAW as ILM from 1980 to date)
• U.S. Treaties Researcher (TIARA) (United States Treaties and International Agreements, 1783-Present, via the World Wide Web from Oceana Publications; paper version is Consolidated Treaties and International Agreements: United States Current Document Service (Erwin C. Surrency ed.); more detailed information is available at Oceana's U.S. Treaties page which describes its searchable online products such as:
  
  1. U.S. Treaties Researcher (TIARA) --- 12,000 full-text US treaties (Subscription only)
  2. U.S. Treaties Index --- an index of 12,000 US treaties (Subscription only)
  3. Quick U.S. Treaties Index (a free service)
• Avalon Project (Yale University collection of historical treaties and other documents - pre-18th Century to 20th Century)
• United Nations Treaty Collection (includes the electronic texts of the United Nations Treaty Series and Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General - current (within the week) status of treaties; registration used to be free, but now fee-based; your institution might have a subscription that allows IP-based access for free to local users)
• Multilaterals Project (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University)
• Treaties and International Law (U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library)
• Wiretap Online Library (gopher archives of selected treaty texts)
• Congressional Record (on LEXIS in the LEGIS, GENFED and other libraries, 105TH (1997-98 session) or RECORD file, and on WESTLAW as CR; see also THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet)
• Federal Register (includes some treaties; on LEXIS in the GENFED library, FEDREG file; on WESTLAW as FR)

United States Treaty Collections: Topical

• Trade Treaties
  • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA Secretariat web site)
  • North American Free Trade Agreement (in LEXIS' ITRADE, CANADA, MEXICO, EXEC, and INTLAW libraries, NAFTA file, and on WESTLAW as the NAFTA database)
  • United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement (LEXIS: INTLAW library, USCAN file)
  • Agreements Negotiated by the United States Trade Representative (USTR; includes GATT, NAFTA, Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), etc.)
  • Final Act (World Trade Organization (WTO) Uruguay Round Agreements)
  • Uruguay Round General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (on LEXIS in the INTLAW and EXEC libraries, GATT file, and on WESTLAW as the GATT database)
  • International Trade Instruments: Treaties, Conventions, Model Laws, Rules (International Trade Law Project, Norway)
  • Basic Documents of International Economic Law (American Society of International Law, International Economic Law Interest Group; Chicago: Commerce Clearing House, 1990; updated and revised quarterly online on WESTLAW as IEL, on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, BDIEL file; includes treaties on international trade, finance, foreign investment, intellectual property, regional economic organizations, private commercial transactions, international litigation and arbitration, transportation, and taxation)
  • World Trade Online (Inside Washington Publishers; electronic version of the Inside U.S. Trade newsletter including selected international trade agreements)
  • Energy Charter Treaty
• Tax Treaties
  • U.S. Tax Treaties (Tax and Accounting Sites Directory)
  • International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (Tax Treaties Data Base on CD-ROM and on LEXIS' FEDTAX and INTLAW libraries, IBFDTR file; includes worldwide tax treaties; IBFD web site forthcoming at http://www.ibfd.nl/)
  • Tax Management Foreign Income Portfolios Series (Bureau of National Affairs; the "Business Operations in..." sets include the full text of U.S. tax treaties; available on LEXIS' BNA and FEDTAX libraries, TMFOR file, and on WESTLAW as the TM-FOR database)
  • U.S. Income Tax Treaties (IntlTaxLaw.Com - domestic and international tax counsel)
• Environmental Treaties
  • International Environmental Statutory and Regulatory Materials (LEXIS' ENVIRN library, INTEHS file)
  • WESTLAW (International Environmental Law Documents, INTLENVL; International Environmental, Health and Safety Regulations, ENFLEX-INT and European Union, ENFLEX-EU; Environmental Law Reporter - Statutes and International Agreements, ELR-STIA, 1971-date)
  • Multilateral Treaties (via the UNEP/IUCN/World Conservation Union's ECOLEX database)
• Intellectual Property Treaties
  • Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Cornell University Law School; done at Paris, July 24, 1971; entered into force for the United States March 1, 1989)
  • LEXIS (COPYRT, PATENT, and TRDMRK libraries, TREATY file - from Basic Documents of International Economic Law)
  • International Intellectual Property Topics (USPTO)
  • WIPO Treaties (U.S. Library of Congress, Copyright Office)
• International Litigation and Arbitration
  • Private International Law Database (U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser; includes Hague Conventions, UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT, OAS, etc.)
  • Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest (LEXIS' MARHUB and INTLAW library, INTDIG file) - "Selected International Conventions to Which the United States is a Party", which is part of the paper version (Part VI or VII) is NOT in the electronic version on LEXIS:
    1. Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters
    2. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
    3. Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters
    4. Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents
    5. United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
    6. Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods
    7. Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
    8. Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory
    9. Additional Protocol to the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory
    10. Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration
  • Basic Documents of International Economic Law (covered at pages 803-946, 947-1980 in hardcopy and online on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, BDIEL file and on WESTLAW in the IEL database)
• Extradition Treaties
  • Bilateral Agreements on Extradition, Judicial/Legal Assistance, Control of Narcotic Drugs, and Prisoner Transfer By Country (United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN); in PDF format; was at http://www.ifs.univie.ac.at/~uncjin/extradit/extindx.htm)
  • Igor I. Kavass & Adolf Sprudzs, Extradition Laws and Treaties, United States (Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 1980- )(ISBN: 0899410367). 2v. looseleaf. Updated irregularly. Not available in electronic format.
• Indian Treaties
  • Treaties Between the United States and Native Americans (Avalon Project, Yale)
  • Charles J. Kappler, 2 Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904)(digitized by Oklahoma State University Library, 1997; includes part containing pre-removal treaties of the Five Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole; was at http://www.library.okstate.edu/kappler/)
  • Treaties, Agreements, and Other Constructive Arrangements (Fourth World Documentation Project; indigenous peoples)
• Treaties Concerning Refugees
  • International Instruments (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)

United States Treaty Indexes and Status Updating Sources

• Legislative Activities: Treaties (U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee; lists "Treaties Received", "Treaties on the Executive Calendar", "Other Treaty Status Actions", with Treaty Document numbers and links to texts of the "Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification" for approved treaties)
• Current Treaty Actions (U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser; includes actions for 1997 and 1998)
• Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States in Force as of January 1, 2000 (TIF as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file; U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser, Treaty Affairs; 1999 was at http://www.acda.gov/state/)
• Documents on Demand (Oceana Publications database indexing U.S. treaties as part of document delivery service; indexes treaties by subject and by TIAS number)
• Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General (updates the paper annual UN publication up to the current month; paper is status as at 30 April 1999; can access by chapter number in table of contents and by subject index)
• Hein's United States Treaty Index on CD-ROM (1776-date; uses West's PREMISE research software and allows access to full text of treaties and agreements on WESTLAW)
• International Legal Materials (online table of contents for current volumes via the American Society of International Law's web site and index is on WESTLAW as ILM-INDX from 1962 to date - online version of cumulative indexes; full text on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, ILM and ILMTY (treaties) files, and on WESTLAW in the ILM database; ILM has "Recent Actions Regarding Treaties to Which the United States is a Party" section)
• Dispatch (Department of State bulletin online; has "Treaty Actions" section - LEXIS' INTLAW library, DSTATE file (1990 to date, and Bulletin 1984-1989), WESTLAW's USDPTSTDIS database (January 1989 to date))
• Foreign Policy Bulletin: The Documentary Record of United States Foreign Policy (Kluwer Law International monthly publication; has "Treaties" section; tables of contents available via the Foreign Affairs web site)
• Congressional Record Index (U.S. Government Printing Office)
• Congressional Universe (formerly knows as CIS Congressional Compass; index of congressional materials, including treaty documents, from 1970 to date; is electronic version of CIS Index and CIS Legislative Histories; the Congressional Information Service also provides the index on CD-ROM as Congressional Masterfile; the full text of treaties indexed is available via LEXIS-NEXIS; see also THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet)
• Online Public Access Catalogs (library OPACS can be used to find citations to treaty text sources that have been individually/separately cataloged; some useful bibliographic databases include WorldCat via OCLC's FirstSearch service (union catalog of holdings of thousands of libraries around the world), RLIN (catalog of holdings of research and special libraries worldwide), COPAC (UK libraries), WebCATS (web-based library catalogs), Library of Congress Catalogs, and Hytelnet (links to library catalogs worldwide via telnet and the World Wide Web)

Treaty Interpretation: "Legislative History"

• Legislative Actions: Treaties (U.S. Senate information about treaties received, on the Executive Calendar, ratified, and other treaty status actions)
• Senate, House, and Executive Reports (beginning with the 104th Congress (1995-96) via GPO Access)
• Senate, House, and Treaty Documents (beginning with the 104th Congress (1995-96) via GPO Access)
• LEXIS' LEGIS library, CISLH file - Congressional Information Service Legislative History files)
• WESTLAW's LH database (U.S. legislative history documents (House and Senate Reports, etc.) from 1948 to date; online version of United States Code Congressional and Administrative News)
• Congressional Universe (Congressional Information Service/LEXIS-NEXIS database)
• WESTLAW's NAFTA-LH database (Arnold & Porter Legislative History: North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act)

Treaty Interpretation: Cases

• LEXIS has in the INTLAW library, COURTS file the full text of cases from the U.S. Supreme Court beginning with 1790, from the Courts of Appeals beginning with 1789, and from the District Courts beginning with 1789
• WESTLAW (includes the following U.S. case databases: Federal International Law - Cases, 1789 to date (FINT-CS); Federal International Law - Supreme Court Cases, 1790 to date (FINT-SCT); Federal International Law - Courts of Appeals Cases, 1891 to date (FINT-CTA); Federal International Law - District Courts Cases, 1789 to date (FINT-DCT))
• American International Law Cases (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1971- )(not available in electronic format)
• Shepard's Federal Statute Citations (available as a CD-ROM product from Shepard's and online on LEXIS in the CITES library, SHEP file and from a SHEP or SH command and on WESTLAW as well)
• KeyCite (this citator service provided by West Group via WESTLAW does not yet cover federal statutes)
• LEXIS Law Publishing Federal Law on Disc - United States Code Service (CD-ROM product which should include the USCS Notes to Uncodified Laws and Treaties - interpretive notes and decisions/case citations for selected treaties)
• LEXIS and WESTLAW include the full text of U.S. federal and state case law (so it is possible to do word searches for cases construing particular U.S. treaties)
• Supreme Court international Bulletin (SCiB; the full text of high court judgments available via e-mail (text or HTML) and web from the following countries/bodies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, European Court of Justice, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States)
• U.S. Supreme Court Opinions (full, searchable texts of U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1893 (volume 150 of United States Reports (US)) to date available via FindLaw - includes the full text of cases from other U.S. federal and state courts also)

United States Practice of International Law

• Restatement of the Law Third - The Foreign Relations Law of the United States (American Law Institute; on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, FORREL file and on WESTLAW in the REST-FOREL database)
• Foreign Relations of the United States Online (U.S. Department of State)
• United States Foreign Affairs on CD-ROM (U.S. Department of State publication updated quarterly; contains the Dispatch, policy documents, statements, speeches, testimony, etc.)
• American Journal of International Law (American Society of International law quarterly begun in 1907; each issue has a chapter on "Contemporary U.S. Practice of International Law"; on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, AJIL file (v.74, 1980 to date), and on WESTLAW as AMJIL (v.76, 1982 to date; see also ASIL file on LEXIS and ASIL database on WESTLAW)
• Cumulative Digest of United States Practice in International Law (1981-1988, volumes 2 and 3 available from Claitor's Law Books and Publishing Division; no electronic version; this digest and its predecessors (Hackworth, Miller, Moore, Wharton, Whiteman) are also available from William S. Hein & Co., Inc.)

United States Treaty News and Commentary

• Department of State Dispatch (includes current treaty information via "Treaty Actions" section, speeches, testimony, diplomatic news items)
• U.S. Tax Treaties (U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 901)
• U.S. Tax Treaty Tables (information about U.S. tax treaties with foreign countries)
• International Copyright Relations of the United States (U.S. Library of Congress, Copyright Office, Circular 38a)
• Judicial Assistance (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs - includes background information by country and subject - on conventions on service of process, enforcement of judgments, taking of evidence abroad, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, etc., with citations to cases, sources of treaty texts, further readings, Internet resources, and contact addresses and phone numbers)
• International Legal Materials (treaty updates every two months via "Recent Actions Regarding Treaties to Which the United States is a Party" section)
• American Journal of International Law (American Society of International Law)
• Frederic L. Kirgis, International Agreements and U.S. Law (American Society of International Law Insight, May 1997)
• Frederic L. Kirgis, Treaties as Binding International Obligation (American Society of International Law Insight, May 1997)
• WESTLAW's INT-TP (full text of law journal articles related to international law), TP-ALL (broader full text database of law journal articles - texts and periodicals), and international and foreign relations journals such as Foreign Affairs (FORGNAFF), Foreign Policy (FORGNPLY), International Organization (INOG), and International Security (INSC))
• Felix S. Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law (Charlottesville, Va.: The Michie Company, 1982)(online on LEXIS in the 2NDARY library, COHEN file)
• LEXIS' INTLAW library, INTLR file (full text of journal articles on international law) and LAWREV library, ALLREV file (broader, cover-to-cover full text of law journal articles)

Treaties to Which the United States May Not Be a Party

Non-U.S. Treaty Collections: General

• United Nations Treaty Series (online via the United Nations Treaty Collection page; full text of multilateral and bilateral treaties; imaged, screen-by-screen access)
• The Australian Treaties Library (full texts of bilateral and multilateral treaties from 1856 to date provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) from the Australian Treaty Series (ATS))
• Multilaterals Project (Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University)
• Public International Law: Treaties (Francis Auburn's links to major Internet collections)
• Treaties and International Agreements (AustLII - Australasian Legal Information Institute links)
• Avalon Project (Yale Law School's collection of "Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy" including historical treaties)
• International and Multilateral Treaties (treaties in English and German via Washburn University School of Law Library's ForInt-Law page)
• Antarctic Treaty Papers (web site of the Antarctic Law, Politics and Resource Policy Interest Group of the American Society of International Law (ASIL))
• League of Nations Treaty Series (L.N.T.S.; not available in electronic format)

Non-U.S. Treaty Indexes: Multilateral

• Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General (United Nations)
• Peter H. Rohn, World Treaty Index (Oxford: Clio Press Ltd., 1983; indexes bilateral and multilateral treaties to 1980; no electronic version; 5-volume set reprinted by William S. Hein in 1997)
• Michael Bowman & David Harris, Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status (no electronic version)
• United Nations Treaty Cumulative Index (William S. Hein; paper publication)
• United Nations Treaty Indexing Service on CD-ROM (William S. Hein, 1995-date)
• International Legal Materials (on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, ILM and ILMTY files from 1975 to date, on WESTLAW as ILM from 1980 to date; has "Recent Actions Regarding Treaties to Which the United States is not a Party" section)

Non-U.S. Treaty Collections: Regional

• Council of Europe
  • European Treaties (CoE's treaties usually start with "European Convention on..."; electronic version of the European Treaty Series (E.T.S.))
• European Union
  • LEXIS (INTLAW library, ECLAW file (CELEX database); EURCOM library, TREATY file; INTLAW library, ECTY file - from Basic Documents of International Economic Law)
  • Selected Instruments Taken from Treaties (via the European Union Law web site, EUR-Lex)
  • CELEX (European Union database including treaties; password required)
  • Official Journal of the European Communities (European Union; official gazette including treaties)
  • Treaty on European Union (TEU; Maastricht)
  • Treaty of Amsterdam (done at Amsterdam on 16-17 June 1997, signed on 2 October 1997, European Commission Doc. CONF/4001/97, O.J. Eur. Comm. C 340/1 (1997), 37 I.L.M. 56 (1998)(International Legal Materials), 1997 BDIEL AD LEXIS 15 (Basic Documents of International Economic Law), pending ratification by all EU member states, not yet in force as of 13 May 1998)
  • European Union Environmental Treaties (EEL, European Environmental Law Homepage)
  • Multilateral Treaties (via the UNEP/IUCN/World Conservation Union's ECOLEX database)

    EURO-LEX (All EUROpean Legal Information EXchange List; includes discussion of European Community/European Union, Council of Europe, other international organizations, and national European country law sources; exchange of and mutual assistance with legal information research in all European countries; intended to be multilingual).

    To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.gmd.de with only the following text in the body of the message:
    

         subscribe euro-lex Your Name
    

    Archives of the most recent EURO-LEX messages are available at http://www.listserv.gmd.de/archives/euro-lex.html and at http://www.ljextra.com/mailinglists/wwweuro-lex/index.html.

• Organization of American States
  • Inter-American Treaties (OAS)

Non-U.S. Treaty Collections: Bilateral

• United Nations Treaty Series (online on the Internet as imaged files)
• Project DIAL (Asian Development Bank (ADB) links to national legislation and treaty sources on the Internet; housed at the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII))
• International Legal Materials (table of contents at American Society of International Law web site; full text on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, ILM and ILMTY files from 1975 to date, on WESTLAW as ILM from 1980 to date)
• Boletin Oficial (Argentina; official gazette)
• Treaties Library (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), from the AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) web site; includes bilateral and multilateral treaties from the Australian Treaty Series (ATS); also includes League of Nations treaties:
  

  "The texts of treaties printed in the Australian Treaty Series from
  1948 to 1998 are available on the Internet. Additional treaties,
  never printed in the series, are now available on the Internet, having
  been allocated numbers in the series from the years in which they
  entered into force for Australia, and designated "electronic". The
  series has also been extended, in electronic form only, back to 1927, with
  earlier years in preparation. Treaties printed in the Select Documents
  series from 1966 to 1997 are also available on the Internet."
  

• Le Moniteur Belge = Belgisch Staatsblad (Belgium; official gazette in Dutch, French, and German)
• Canada Gazette = Gazette du Canada (Canada Department of Justice "Statutes and Regulations" database; in French and English; see also DFAIT treaties)
• People's Daily (and other news and law sources for the People's Republic of China (PRC))
• Valtiosopimukset (Finland; bilateral and multilateral treaties in Finnish and Swedish)
• LEXIS' INTNAT library includes treaties of France, in French
• Journal Officiel de la République Française (Official Law Gazette; see also the LegiFrance, Saarbrücken, and Amgot pages)
• Bundesgesetzblatt (Germany; federal official law gazette)
• List of Multinational Treaties (Hong Kong)
• Selected Treaties and Agreements (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs; see also http://www.mfa.gov.il/)
• Gazzetta Ufficiale (Italy official gazette)
• Staatsverträge (Liechtenstein treaties)
• Treaties (The Netherlands)
• Command Papers and other Parliamentary Papers (United Kingdom treaties; see also BOPCAS British Official Publications Current Awareness Service)
• Guide to European Legal Databases (Mirela Roznovschi)
• Foreign Governments (Northwestern University links to foreign government departments, ministries, and official publications)
• Governments on the WWW (links by Gunnar Anzinger)

Non-U.S. Treaty Indexes: Bilateral

• Peter H. Rohn, World Treaty Index (Oxford: Clio Press Ltd., 1983; indexes bilateral and multilateral treaties to 1980; no electronic version; 5-volume set reprinted by William S. Hein in 1997)

Non-U.S. Treaty Collections: Topical

• Trade
  • Basic Documents of International Economic Law (LEXIS' INTLAW library, BDIEL file and WESTLAW's IEL database)
  • General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - Uruguay Round (LEXIS' INTLAW library, GATT file; WESTLAW's GATT database)
  • International Trade Instruments: Treaties, Conventions, Model Laws, Rules (International Trade Law Project, Norway)
  • Trade Agreements (Canada; linked to from the DFAIT (Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade) page)
  • Final Act (World Trade Organization (WTO) Uruguay Round Agreements)
  • Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement; World Trade Organization)
  • Treaties, Free Trade Agreements, and International Agreements (National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade; NAFTA, MERCOSUR, etc.)
  • United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG via Pace University)
  • United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG via University of Freiburg, including electronic discussion group)
  • United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG via UNIDROIT et al.'s Centre for Comparative and Foreign Law Studies)
• Tax Treaties
  • International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation - Netherlands web site; tax treaties and news (LEXIS' INTLAW library, IBFDTR and IBFD files; plus Tax Treaties Data Base on CD-ROM - UK web site)
  • The Worldwide Tax Treaties Disk (Tax Analysts)
  • International Tax Agreements (United Nations looseleaf service, on WESTLAW as FTX-IA)
  • Latin American Tax Treaties (InterAm Database)
• Environmental Treaties
  • International Environmental Statutory and Regulatory Materials (LEXIS' ENVIRN library, INTEHS file)
  • WESTLAW (International Environmental Law Documents, INTLENVL; International Environmental, Health and Safety Regulations, ENFLEX-INT and European Union, ENFLEX-EU; Environmental Law Reporter - Statutes and International Agreements, ELR-STIA, 1971-date)
  • Environmental Conventions (United Nations Environment Programme)
  • Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI/CIESIN)
  • Multilateral Environmental Treaties (Greenpeace International Legal Department; now at Globelaw: International and Transnational Law)
  • International Environmental Law (American Society of International Law Interest Group page of web links)
  • Convention on Biological Diversity (see also Earth Negotiations Bulletin and BIODIV-CONV listserv)

  • CITES-L (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species List; forum for discussions on wildlife trade and CITES; will include postings of CITES Notifications and Resolutions)

    To subscribe, send the following message to listproc@wcmc.org.uk:
    

     
         subscribe cites-l Your Name
    

    Related pages are at ftp://ftp.wcmc.org.uk/services/species/trade/cites/ and http://www.wcmc.org.uk:80/CITES/.

• Labor Treaties
  • International Labour Standards (labor conventions via the ILOLEX database)
• Intellectual Property Treaties
  • Texts of Treaties Admnistered by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
  • TRIPs Agreement (WTO)
  • Intellectual Property Agreements (Franklin Pierce Law Center's Intellectual Property Mall)
• International Litigation and Arbitration Treaties
  • Hague Conference on Private International Law
  • Hague Conventions on Private Law (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; includes status list and selected complete texts)
  • Private International Law Data Base (PILDB from the U.S. Department of State; was at http://www.his.com/~pildb/contents.html)
  • International Arbitration Rules (LEXIS' ADR library, IARBR file; see also International Commercial Arbitration)
• Treaties Concerning Refugees
  • International Instruments (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
  • REFWORLD CD-ROM (UN database including international resolutions, laws, and other legal instruments on the protection of refugees)
• Human Rights Treaties
  • International Human Rights Instruments (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights)
  • Human Rights Treaties and Other Instruments (University of Minnesota)
  • Human Rights on CD-ROM (United Nations bibliographic database referencing UN documents and publications, plus includes full text of human rights instruments)
  • International Humanitarian Law Database (full text of about 90 IHL-related treaties from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC))

Non-U.S. Treaty Ratification

• Foreign Legal Materials - By Jurisdiction (New York University Law Library links)
• Global Legal Information Network (U.S. Law Library of Congress; slow link)
• The World List: Non-U.S. Law-Related Resources for Internet Users (Makoto Ibusuki's guide covering over 70 countries; also at http://www.law.osaka-u.ac.jp/legal-info/worldlist/frame.htm)
• Foreign Governments (Norwestern University links for foreign government departments, ministries, and official publications)

Treaty Interpretation: Cases

• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (ASCII text from the Multilaterals Project; see also HTML'ized version from Greenpeace International):
  

       Concluded at Vienna, 23 May 1969; Entered into force, 
       27 January 1988;  1155 U.N.T.S. 331; 1969 U.N.Y.B. 140;
       180 U.K.T.S. 58, Cmnd. 7964; reprinted in 8 I.L.M. 679 (1969).
  

• Statute of the International Court of Justice (see particularly articles 34-38; includes information on interpretation of treaties)
• International Court of Justice (ICJ; also online on WESTLAW as the INT-ICJ database, but fuller file containing decisions from 1947 to date)
• Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ)
• European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
• LEXIS includes the full text of cases in the INTLAW library for the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the European Court of Human Rights, Australia, France, the UK, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, South Africa (Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports)
• Supreme Court of Argentina (decisions in Spanish)
• Supreme Court of Israel
• Supreme Court of Venezuela (important judgments are located on its "Sentencias" page)
• International Law Reports (no electronic version)
• International Supreme Court Decisions (Stein Schjølberg, Chief Judge, links to Internet sites for the high courts of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, EU Court of Justice, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, South-Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela)
• Supreme Court international Bulletin (SCiB; the full text of high court judgments available via e-mail (text or HTML) and web from the following countries/bodies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, European Court of Justice, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States)
• Constitutions and Constitutional Courts (University of Chicago Law Library; includes links to various Internet sites, including the Constitutional Court Network (CoCoNet) and the International Court Network)
• FindLaw (links to court cases worldwide)

National Treaty Practice

• National Treaty Law and Practice: France, Germany, India, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom (Monroe Leigh & Merritt R. Blakeslee eds., Washington, D.C.: American Society of International Law, 1995)(Studies in Transnational Legal Policy; no. 27). 267p. Not available in electronic format.
• National Treaty Law and Practice: Austria, Chile, Colombia, Japan, The Netherlands, United States (Monroe Leigh, Merritt R. Blakeslee, & L. Benjamin Ederington eds., Washington, D.C.: American Society of International Law, 1998)(Studies in Transnational Legal Policy; no. 30). Not available in electronic format.
• KONTERM (State Practice database; University of Vienna, Institute of International Law and International Relations)

Non-U.S. Treaty News and Commentary

• LEXIS' INTLAW library, RAPID, ECNEWS, and SPICER files (European Union news)
• WESTLAW's SPICERS database (European Union news and document summaries)
• LEXIS' INTLAW library, TNI (Tax Notes International) and TNIMAG (Tax Notes International Magazine) files
• BNA's International Environmental Reporter (LEXIS' INTLAW library, INTENV file)
• BNA's International Trade Reporter (available as Lotus Notes and on the WWW, plus online on LEXIS' ITRADE and INTLAW libraries, INTRAD file and WESTLAW's BNA-ITR database)
• BNA's World Intellectual Property Report (available as Lotus Notes and on the WWW, but not online on LEXIS and WESTLAW)
• Judicial Assistance (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs - includes background information by country, with contact addresses and phone numbers
• Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest (LEXIS' MARHUB and INTLAW library, INTDIG file) - includes summaries of laws for over 70 countries written annually by distinguished lawyers and legal scholars of the respective countries; "Treaties and Conventions" section lists international agreements to which the country is a party
• International Journal of Legal Information (on WESTLAW as INTJLI)
• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (indexes 450 yearbooks and other journals, including ones on public international law; on WESTLAW as IFLP; also as a CD-ROM via SilverPlatter and CitaDel Eureka database via the Research Libraries Group; electronic versions cover from 1985-date; Kluwer Law International publishes a number of international law yearbooks)
• International law reviews - full text (LEXIS' INTLAW library, INTLR file and LAWREV library, ALLREV file; WESTLAW's INT-TP and TP-ALL databases)
• Legal Resource Index (on CD-ROM as LegalTrac, on LEXIS in the LAWREV library, LGLIND file, and WESTLAW as LRI; 1980 to date; web-based interface is forthcoming)
• PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service quarterly index of books, articles, government reports published in 60 countries in 6 languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, including commentary on treaties; 1972-date; also available as a FirstSearch database via OCLC and was PAIS on WESTLAW)
• UnCover (CARL's free tables of contents search service for over 17,000 journals available via the Internet)

Please contact Lyonette Louis-Jacques at llou@midway.uchicago.edu with any questions, comments, or suggestions related to electronic resources for treaty research. Updated 27 June 2001.