Finding Treaties

Use the sources in this guide to find treaties by citation, subject or parties.

Be creative and persevere!

• No one complete collection of treaties exists.
• Not all treaties are available in English
• Authentic texts may only be available in the parties' official languages 
• Treaties can have a variety of names, including:
  • agreements
  • conventions
  • protocols
  • memorandums of understanding
  • exchanges of letters

Standard treaty citations will usually include a citation to a treaty source where the text of the treaty has been published. 

If you have a citation, compare your citation to the Bluebook format and identify the cited treaty source. Major treaty sources are linked below. 

If your cited treaty source isn't listed in this guide, search the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations to identify the full title and then search for the treaty source in HOLLIS.. 

See Bluebook Rule 21.4: Treaties and Other International Agreements

The standard Bluebook citation for a treaty should include

• Treaty name
• Parties (for bilateral agreements)
• Subdivisions if needed
• Date
• Treaty Source(s)

The treaty source cited will depend on

• whether the U.S. is a party
• whether the treaty is bilateral (between two parties) or multilateral (among three or more parties)

Example:

Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Estates, Inheritances, and Gifts, Fr.-U.S., Nov. 24, 1978, 32 U.S.T. 1935. 

Treaty Source: 

This treaty is available at 32 U.S.T. 1935

• 32 = volume 32
• U.S.T. = United States Treaties & Other International Agreements
• 1935 - treaty starts on  page 1935

Example:

North Atlantic Treaty art.5, Apr. 4, 1949, 63 Stat. 2241, 34 U.N.T.S. 243.

Treaty Sources:

This treaty is available at 63 Stat. 2241

• 63=volume 63
• Stat.=Statutes at Large 
• 2241 = treaty starts on page 2241

This treaty is also available at 34 U.N.T.S. 243

• 34 = volume 34
• U.N.T.S. = United Nations Treaty Series
• 243 - treaty starts on page 243

Example:

Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation, Neth.-Swed., art. 4, Apr. 25, 1952, 163 U.N.T.S. 131

Treaty Source: 

This treaty is available at 163 U.N.T.S. 131

• 163= volume 163
• U.N.T.S.. = United Nations Treaty Series
• 131- treaty starts on  page 131

For both bilateral and multilateral treaties where the U.S. is a party, cite to one of the following official U.S. treaty sources, in order of preference:

• U.S.T. (or Stat.)
• T.I.A.S. (or T.S. or E.A.S.)
• Senate Treaty Documents or Senate Executive Documents
• The Department of State Dispatch
• Department of State Press Releases

For multilateral treaties, you may also add one parallel citation from an international organization's source, e.g.:

• U.N.T.S.
• L.N.T.S.
• O.A.S.T.S.,
• Pan. Am.,
• E.T.S.
• C.E.T.S.

• continues the Treaty Series and Executive Agreement Series
• published exclusively online since 2006

1784-1944

1929-1945

S. Exec. Doc.: pre-1979

S. Treaty Doc. (1979- present)

v.1 (1990)-v. 10 (1999)

1939-1989

Multilateral Treaties where the U.S. is a party:

• Add a parallel citation to one of the following sources, in addition to the official U.S. Treaty Source

Treaties where the U.S. is not a party:

• Cite to a one of the following major sources if available. 
• Otherwise, cite to the official source of one signatory.
  • See Bluebook Table 2: Foreign Jurisdictions for specific countries' treaty sources.
  • Some countries do not appear in the Bluebook. Follow the Bluebook citation format of a similar jurisdiction.

1946-present

1920-1946

• published in pamphlet form as E.T.S., 1949-2004
• collected and bound as E.C.A., 1949-1998 
• continued by Council of Europe Treaty Series (C.E.T.S.)

• continued by Inter-American Treaties and Conventions: Signatures, Ratifications, and Deposits with Explanatory Notes
• continues the Treaty Series (Pan American Union)

• 2004-present
• continues the European Treaty Series

Continued by the Organization of American States Treaty Series

1956-1993

This list is not meant to be all-inclusive but to give guidance on some of the more commonly used abbreviations of resources where treaties can be found, in both the Harvard Law Library's print collection, as well as online collections or trusted websites.

American Journal of International Law & Cumulative Index to the American Journal of International Law

If a treaty is not published in an official source, use an unofficial source.

Cite to International Legal Materials (I.L.M). if the treaty is published there.

Otherwise see the list below, Bluebook Rule 21.4.5 (c), and Bluebook Table 4.3 for other unofficial treaty sources

Bilateral treaties are agreements between only two parties. In general, these agreements are more difficult to track down because not all countries make them publicly available. Multilateral treaties,  tend to be easier to locate because they are often published in treaty sets or available online.

Sometimes a treaty may only be found on the website of the organization or body that has been created or given authority to oversee that the terms of the treaty are carried out by the state parties. Listed on this page are a few such organizations.

Also included on this page are some of the well-known treaty series, administered by IGOs or Supranational Organizations.

This page is not intended to be all-inclusive.

United Nations Treaty Collection:

In addition to the link above, this treaty series is also available through the Hein Online United Nations Collection.

This collection includes six categories of treaty-related data:

* Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General
* The United Nations Treaty Series
* Texts of Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties
* Photographs of Treaty Signature Ceremonies
* Titles of the Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General in the UN official languages
* Summary of Practice of the Secretary-General as Depositary of Multilateral Treaties

League of Nations Treaty Series:

In addition the link above, this treaty series is also available through the Hein Online United Nations Law Collection.

Government Gazettes Online

This website attempts to provide links to all official government gazettes available online.  It is particularly helpful because it includes an annotation for each entry regarding scope and content.

World Treaty Index

This website offers a searchable database of over 55,000 treaties of the 20^th century. Compiled using a subject thesaurus, it can be search a number of ways and is a good source for identifying bilateral agreements.

1) One way that these publications can be identified is by carrying out a subject search in the HOLLIS Classic catalogue. 

 For gazettes: Gazettes – [country].

 For a particular treaty series: [country]— foreign relations—treaties.  

 2) Do a search in Hollis Classic to see if the particular country involved has a Treaty Calendar.  The word "Calendar" would be in the "title words" field. The Calendar can provide information on sources of treaty texts, as well as dates of signings, other country parties, and citation information.  

3) Do a search in Hollis Classic to see if the particular country has its own Treaty Series.  You can enter "treaty series" in the "title words" field, and enter the name of the country in the author field. If the country has its own treaty series, it should include an index.

4) Alternatively, use a print resource such as List of Treaty Collections, at Law School Reference JX120.Z99 L57x 1981 or the Manual of Collections of Treaties and of Collections Relating to Treaties, which is available in print, and online through Making of Modern Law (if the document predates 1922).

New Zealand Treaty Series, through the New Zealand Legal Information Institute.  The database pulls information from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  Researchers are also encouraged to visit that ministry's website to make sure their information is up to date, and for more information on the treaty making process in New Zealand. 

Once you've found your treaty or international agreement, you'll want to be sure to update it as well as the status of reservations made to it by parties and signatories. 

Many non-governmental organizations, as well as international organizations, and country websites provide online status updates to treaties, especially if they are responsible for admministering such treaties.  A few are provided below:

• International Maritime Organization (web site uses frames, click on "Legal" and then "IMO Conventions," then look at the links on the right hand side of the page)
• International Atomic Energy Agency (click through to the text of the convention you want, then look to see links regarding ratification or latest status)
• International Labour Organization
• World Health Organization (click on the name of the treaty, and then you'll see links regarding its status)
• World Intellectual Property Organization (note Recent Notifications information toward the bottom of the page, and also click on links to each treaty named for entry into force and contracting party information)

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