This guide describes a number of major resources available in the UGA Law Library for finding treaties. It includes selected treaty texts, finding aids, collections by region, collections by subject, and examples of specific treaties published and classified individually. Selected on-line and electronic resources are listed within the resource categories.

I. Introduction

II. United States Treaties

• texts
• indexes

III. World-wide Treaty Collections (whether U.S. is a party or not)

• texts
• indexes
• note re sources for treaties to which the United States is not a party
  

IV. Selected Collections of Treaties & Treaty Indexes by Jurisdiction (other than United States)

V. Selected Collections of Treaties & Treaty Indexes by Subject

VI. Examples of Specific Treaties Published by Name
 
 Location Codes

Where applicable, this guide provides call numbers and locations for referenced materials. The locations are coded as follows:
 

Main = Main Floor of the Library	Ref = Reference Collection
Balc = Balcony Level	Res = Reserve Office
Base = Basement	RBR = Rare Book Room
1Anx = Annex First Floor	MFC = Microforms
2Anx = Annex Second Floor	SOHN = Sohn Collection on Int'l Relations in Rusk Hall
3Anx = Annex Third Floor

I. Introduction

Treaties can be referred to as international conventions, international agreements, covenants, final acts, charters, protocols, pacts, accords, and constitutions for international organizations. Usually these different names have no legal significance in international law.

Treaties may be bilateral (two parties) or multilateral (between several parties).

A treaty is usually only binding on the parties to the agreement. An agreement "enters into force" when the terms for entry into force as specified in the agreement are met.

Treaties usually follow the same general process: adoption - signature -  ratification. Each country follows its own ratification procedures, after which the ratification instruments are exchanged or deposited with a depositary.

In the United States, ratification generally takes the following path: Executive branch negotiates and signs treaty - President submits treaty to Senate - Senate prints proposed treaty (S. Treaty Doc. No.) - Senate refers proposed treaty to Senate Foreign Relations Committee - SFR Committee conducts hearings (S. Hrg) and makes recommendation to full Senate (S. Ex. Rept) - Senate passes resolution of "advice and consent" to ratification of the treaty (Constitution requires 2/3 vote of a quorum of the Senate) - President ratifies treaty.

For some countries, ratification procedures are summarized in Constitutions of the Countries of the World (K3157.A2 B55 - Balc)

II. United States Treaties (this section includes resources containing the texts or indexes for treaties to which the U.S. is a participant  - Section III below includes resources on multilateral or bilateral treaties to which the U.S. may or may not be a party)
 

Texts of United States Treaties (see next subsection for indexes)

Consolidated Treaties & International Agreements. Compiled and edited by Erwin Surrency. Oceana, 1991- [location: KZ 235.5 U55 - Base]. Publishes U.S. treaties and international agreements within 90 days after release or ratification.Updated quarterly; considerably more current than the official publication, TIAS. Arranged by Department of State number. Includes topical and country indexes, a list of multilateral agreements, and a list of treaties cited in subsequent treaties. TIARA, the online version, also includes many unpublished treaties.

Hein's United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Current Service. Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 1990- [microform] [location: MFC H439 - 1Anx]. Unofficial publication of recent U.S. treaties and agreements. Much more current than the official set; items not yet assigned a TIAS number are assigned the set's KAV numbers. Includes cumulative index.

LEXIS - U.S. Treaties in Force (Oceana). INTLAW library, USTRTY file. Contains U.S. treaties since 1783 [available to law school students and faculty only].

Statutes at Large (Stat.) [Location: unclassed - near the U.S. codes on Main]. Prior to 1950, the official site for publication of U.S. treaties. Includes international agreements from 1932. Vol. 8 includes all treaties between the United States and foreign nations from 1778 to 1845. Vol. 7 includes all treaties between the U.S. and Native Americans from 1778 to 1845.

TIARA: Treaties and International Agreements Online. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1993- [location: online, linked from Law Library's Research Resources page]. This full text database contains over 10,000 treaties and agreements to which the U.S. is a party (also includes the texts of a number of bilateral tax treaties, some to which the United States is not a party).  Includes some unpublished agreements. The Help Screen provides content information and searching tips. Updated monthly.

Treaties and Other International Act Series (TIAS). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1946- [Location: KZ235.32 .U55 - Base]. Contains the official slip versions of U.S. treaties, each of which is assigned a number (e.g. TIAS 12075). Later bound into United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST). Lag time is considerable -- well over 10 years.

Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America 1776-1949. Compiled under the direction of Charles I. Bevans. Washington, D.C.: Department of State, 1968. [location: KZ 236 1968 - Base] Multi-volume set. Multilateral agreements are arranged chronologically; bilateral agreements are arranged by country. Includes indexes, headnotes and some annotations.

United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST). Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of State, 1950- [Location:  KZ235.3 .U55 - Base; also in microfiche at MFC H439]. The official bound set of U.S. treaties and agreements since 1949. The arrangement is numerical by TIAS numbers. Includes country and subject indexes. Huge publication lag time - currently 15+ years.

Unperfected Treaties of the United States, 1776-1976. Edited by C. Wiktor. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1976 [location: JX236 I776 .U56 - 3Anx]. Includes legislative history and commentary.

Westlaw. USTREATIES database. Contains U.S. treaties since 1979 (coverage starts at TIAS no.10869) Lag time equals approximately 2 months [available to law school students and faculty only].
 

Indexes to U.S. Treaties

Current Treaty Index. Compiled by Igor Kavass and Adolf Sprudzs. Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 1982- [location: KZ 235 C87 - Base]. Cumulatively indexes United States slip treaties and agreements, thereby supplementing United States Treaty Index: 1776-1990 Consolidation.

A Guide to the United States Treaties in Force. Igor Kavass and Adolf Sprudzs. Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 1982- [location: KZ 235 G85 - Base]. Indexes United States treaties currently in force by number, subject, date, and country.

Treaties in Force [location: KZ 235 T74 - Base; most recent year on Res]. Lists current United States treaties. Lists bilateral agreements alphabetically by country and within broad subject categories. Lists multilateral agreements by subject (note: the subject categories in the bilateral agreements section do not always correspond exactly with the subject categories in the multilateral agreements section). Current edition available on Lexis and Westlaw.

United States Treaty Index: 1776-2000 Consolidation. Compiled and edited by Igor I. Kavass. Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 1991 [location: KZ 235 .U5 1991 - Base]. Indexes all treaties and agreements entered into by the United States from 1776 to 2000. Includes chronological, country and subject indexes. Supplemented by Current Treaty Index. Replaced UST Cumulative Index.

III. World-wide Treaty Collections (this section includes resources providing the text of treaties as well as indexes for locating treaties, regardless of whether the U.S. is a party - see Section II above for additional resources exclusive to treaties including the U.S. as a party; see note below about finding treaties to which the U.S. is not a party)
 

Texts of World-wide Treaties

Consolidated Treaty Series. Edited by Clive Parry. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1969-81 [location: KZ 120 .P35 - Base]. Compiles treaties from 1648 to 1919. Includes chronological and party indexes.

International Legal Materials. Washington, D.C.: American Society of Int'l Law, 1962- [location: KZ64 I58 - Base]. Bimonthly collection of current international documents, including selected current treaties. Reproduces official documents by photo offset when possible. November issue includes an annual table of contents and annual index. Cumulative indexes for 1962-69,1970-79 and 1980-89 are shelved with the bound copies. Indexed from 1990 to present on ASILEX. The tables of contents from recent issues are available at http://www.asil.org/ilm/ilmindx.htm. [also available on Lexis from 1962 and Westlaw from 1980 - for law school students and faculty only].

League of Nations Treaty Series. Geneva: League of Nations, 1920-46 [location: KZ 172 T74 - Base]. Contains treaty texts from 1920 to 1945. Includes some index volumes, although no overall cumulative index is available.

Tufts Multilateral Project - http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html. Fletcher School's web site providing the text of or links to many multilateral treaties. Allows for searching by full-text. Also arranged chronologically and by subject.

United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS). New York: United Nations, 1946/47- [location: KZ 172 T74 - Base]. Contains all treaties registered with the United Nations (but note that not all member countries comply with the UN Charter requirement to register). Arranged by date of registration with the UN, not by date of ratification or signature. Cumulative indexes covering a span of volumes are published occasionally, but there is no overall cumulative index. Expect major delay (more than 10 years) in publication. Note: UNTS is also available online through a subscription to the United Nations Treaty Collection at http://untreaty.un.org (linked from the UGA Law Library Research Resources page).
 
 

Indexes and Other Finding Aids for World-wide Treaties

Index to Multilateral Treaties. Edited by Vaclav Mostecky. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School Library, 1965 & Supp. 1968 [location: JX171 H35 1965 - 3Anx]. Lists multilateral treaties from 1596 to 1966. Includes index.

List of Treaty Collections. United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. Moorestown, NJ: Symposia Press; Holmes Beach, FL: Gaunt & Sons [distributor], 1981 [location: JX119 .U55 1981 - 3Anx]. Divided into General Collections, Collections by Subject Matter, and Collections by States. Includes indexes, chronological lists, and bibliographies. The titles of the books are reproduced in their original languages.

Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General. New York: United Nations [location: KZ 171 M86 - Base]. Provides the status of multilateral treaties deposited with the United Nations. Includes information on signatures, accessions, and notifications. Also provides reprints of reservations and declarations by individual countries. Also available online through the United Nations Treaty Collection, linked from the UGA Law Library Research Resources page.

Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status. Edited by M.J. Bowman & D.J.Harris. London: Butterworths, 1984 (supplement compiled and published by Nottingham Treaty Centre, currently to 1994 with the Eleventh supplement) [location: KZ 118 B68 1984 - Base]. Arranged chronologically, but also includes subject and word indexes for major multilateral treaties. Provides dates of conclusion, signing, entry-into-force, parties, and reservations.

World Treaty Index, 2d ed.. Edited by Peter Rohn. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, c1983 [location: KZ 173 R64 - Base]. Indexes treaties from 1900 to 1984. Includes party, keyword, and main entry indexes. Provides thesaurus.
 

IV. Selected Collections of Treaties and Treaty Indexes by Jurisdiction or Region (Other than United States)
 
 

ASEAN

Multilateral Treaties between ASEAN Countries. Dato Visu Sinnadurai, Editor-in Chief. Singapore: Butterworths, 1986 [location: JX900 .A6 1986]. Treaties between members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. Arranged chronologically within document categories (e.g., Declarations, Agreements). Also look for ASEAN agreements on the Web at http://www.aseansec.org/.
 
 

EUROPE

CELEX Database. Provided by the Commission of the European Union. Includes EEC, EC and EU treaties (along with case law, parliamentary questions, and many other types of EU documents). Available by subscription on the World Wide Web at http://europa.eu.int/celex. Please ask a reference librarian to log you in.

Consolidated Treaties & International Agreements: Current Document Service, European Community. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1991- [location: KJE918 .C68]. Released quarterly.

European Conventions and Agreements, 2d ed. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 1993- [location: KZ626 1993 .C68 - Base]. Vol. 1 = 1949-61, Vol. 2 = 1961-70. Indexed in separate volume by subject.

European Treaty Series. Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 1949- [location: JX626 1954 .E8 - 3Anx]. In French and English. Arranged by treaty series number.

Treaties Establishing the European Communities (ECSC, EEC, EAEC): Single European Act: Other Basic Instruments, 3rd abridged ed. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1987 [location: KJE442.3 .T732 1987 - 3Anx]. Includes index.
 

Great Britain

General Index to Treaty Series, 1977-1979: in Continuance of Treaty Series no. 101. London: H.M.S.O., 1983 [location: JX636 1892 Index 1977-1979 - 3Anx]. Subject index.

An Index of British Treaties. London: H.M.S.O., 1970- [location: JX636 1970 .I53]. Consolidated index to the Treaty series of the United Kingdom.

Treaty Series. London: H.M.S.O, 1892- [location: JX636 1892]. British treaties. Issued in the parliamentary series as Papers by command. Numbering begins each year with no. 1.
 

India

India, Bilateral Treaties and Agreements. Delhi: Published for Policy Planning and Research Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, New Delhi, by Siba Exim, 1994- [location: KZ 976 1994 - Base]. Multi-volume set. Includes indexes.
 

Organization of American States

Inter-American Treaties and Conventions. Washington, DC: General Secretariat, Organization of American States. [location: JX1404 .O74 -3Anx]. Also look for some OAS conventions on the Web at http://www.oas.org.
 

V. Selected Collections of Treaties & Treaty Indexes by Subject

Air & Aviation

Air & Aviation Treaties of the World. Compiled by S. Houston Lay. London; New York: Oceana Publications, 1984- [location: K4093 .A35 1984 - Balc]. Loose-leaf set. Includes index.
 

Armed Conflict

The Laws of Armed Conflicts: A Collection of Conventions, Resolutions, and Other Documents, 3rd ed. Edited by Dietrich Schindler and Jiri Toman. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Nijhoff; Norwell, MA, USA: Kluwer Academic Publishers [distributor], 1988 [location: JX4505 .L38 1988 - 3Anx]. Groups full-texts of multilateral conventions on the law of armed conflicts into chapters (e.g. air warfare, victims of war, neutrality). Includes list of reproduced documents in chronological order. Extensive indexing by subject.
 

Environment

International Protection of the Environment: Treaties and Related Documents. Compiled and edited by Bernd Rüster and Bruno Simma. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1991- [location: K3581.3 .A1 I452 - Balc]. First series is multi-volume bound set covering international environmental law from late 18th C. to 1980; second series is multi-volume looseleaf set covering 1980 to present. Includes subject index.

Selected Multilateral Treaties in the Field of the Environment. Edited by Alexandre Charles Kiss. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme, 1983-91 [location: K3583 .S45 1983 - Balc]. Provides full text of international conventions concerning the protection of the environment. Vol. 1 covers agreements to 1979, and vol. 2 contains agreements adopted between 1979 and December 15, 1990. Includes chronological and subject indexes.
 

Foreign Investment

Bilateral Investment Treaties. New York: United Nations, 1988 & 1992 [location: K3830.4 .B55 - Balc]. 1988 volume includes bibliography and text of selected treaties. Provides list of bilateral promotion and protection treaties concluded up to mid-1988. 1992 volume includes text of selected treaties and list of bilateral investment treaties concluded up to mid-1991.

Investment Promotion and Protection Treaties. Compiled by International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. London; New York: Oceana Publications, 1983- [location: K1112 .A35 I58 - Balc]. Contents arranged chronologically, beginning in 1960. Includes index.
 

Human Rights

Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments. New York: United Nations, 1993 [location: K3238 H85 1993 - Balc]. Contains documents adopted up to March 31, 1993. Includes list of instruments in chronological order of adoption.

Human Rights Library Web Site at University of Minnesota. URL = http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/. Contains a collection of over 14,450 human rights documents, including numerous treaties and related instruments. Organized by subject matter and searchable by key word.

International Conventions on Protection of Humanity and Environment. Edited by Gunter Hoog and Angela Steinmetz. Berlin and New York: W. de Gruyter, 1993. [location: K3238 .I58 1993 - Balc] Compilation of multilateral treaties open to universal subscription and "intended to safeguard certain human interests: basic human rights, humanitarian needs in armed conflicts, and the human environment."

International Human Rights Instruments: A Compilation of Treaties, Agreements and Declarations of Especial Interest to the United States, 2d ed. Edited by Richard B. Lillich. Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein Co., 1990- [location: K3238 .A1 I5362 - Balc]. Looseleaf set. Includes reservations and declarations. Substitutes extracts and summaries for some documents. Includes lists of States Parties as of January 1, 1990.

Refugees and International Law: Documents. Collected by Benjamin Mulamba-Mbuyi. Scarborough, Ont.: Carswell, 1993 [location: JX4292 .R44 1993 - 3Anx]. Contains full text of treaties and other international instruments relating to refugees. Includes comments, bibliographies and a glossary ("lexicon"). Indexed by subject and by States Parties.
 

Intellectual Property

Copyright and Neighboring Rights Laws and Treaties. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization, 1987- [location: K1411.2 .C663 - Balc]. Collection of national laws and regulations, bilateral, regional and multilateral treaties regarding copyright and neighboring rights. Continued by Intellectual Property Laws & Treaties in online version at WIPO Web site under "News and Information Resources -- Documents."

Industrial Property Laws & Treaties. [location: K1500 .A13 I533 - Balc]. Collection of national laws and regulations, bilateral, regional and multilateral treaties in the field of industrial property. Continued by Intellectual Property Laws & Treaties in online version at WIPO Web site under "News and Information Resources -- Documents."

Intellectual Property Laws & Treaties. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998 - 2001 [location: K1401 .A35 I56 - Balc]. Collection of national laws and regulations, bilateral, regional and multilateral treaties in the area of intellectual property. Ceased print publication in January 2002, but continued in online version at WIPO Web site under "News and Information Resources -- Documents."

International Treaties on Intellectual Property. Edited by Marshall A. Leaffer. Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs, 1990 & 1997 [location: K1504.15 .W6 - Balc]. Includes bibliography and index.

World Patent Law and Practice: Patent Statutes, Regulations, and Treaties. Compiled by John P. Sinnott. New York: Matthew Bender, 1974-87. Looseleaf set. Indexed by country and treaty name.
 

Law of the Sea

The Law of the Sea: Multilateral Treaties Relevant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. New York: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Law of the Sea: United Nations, 1985 [location: JX4408 .L396 1985 - 3Anx]. Lists treaties chronologically and by subject. No text.
 

Tax

International Tax Treaties of All Nations. Edited by Walter H. Diamond and Dorothy B. Diamond. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1975 [location: K4473 .I58 - Balc]. Title page asserts that this set contains English language texts of all tax treaties between two or more nations in force on July 1, 1975, and it is updated by cumulative supplements.

Tax Treaties. Chicago: Commerce Clearing House, 1965- [location: KF6306 .U72]. Includes full text of U.S. treaties with foreign countries covering income and estate taxes. Arranged alphabetically. Includes annotations and regulations, current reports of new developments, finding lists, and index.

Worldwide Tax Treaty Index. Arlington, VA: Tax Analysts, 1993- [location: K4473 .W67 - Balc]. Lists over 1,000 tax treaties, agreements, protocols and similar documents. Includes list of legislative history documents for United States treaties. Provides citations to online and microfiche database resources. Contains country index.
 

Trade

Basic Documents of International Economic Law. Edited by Stephen Zamora and Ronald A. Brand. Chicago: Commerce Clearing House, 1990 [location: K3820 .A35 B37 1990 - Balc]. Includes full-text of international agreements and documents relating to international economic law, up to November 1989. In addition, introductory essays and selective bibliographies accompany each document [also available on Lexis (INTLAW library, BDIEL file), with updates, for law school students and faculty only].

Basic Documents on International Trade Law, 2d rev. ed. Edited by Chia-Jui Cheng. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 1990 [location: K1003 .B37 1990 - Balc]. Appendices include full text of selected trade treaties.

LEXIS - INTLAW Library, GATT and NAFTA files [available to law school students and faculty only].

North American Free Trade Agreements. Compiled and edited by James R. Holbein and Donald J. Musch. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1992- [location: KDZ944 .A41992 N67 - Base]. Vols. 1 & 2 contain texts of treaties and related documents (e.g., national laws relevant to NAFTA).

Treaties and International Documents Used in International Trade Law. Compiled by Alain Prujiner. Montreal: Wilson & Lafleur, 1992 [location: K1003 .T73 1992 - Balc]. In French and English. Selected instruments are divided into sections on "international contract" and "international dispute." Indexed by topic and title.

WESTLAW - GATT and NAFTA databases [available to law school students and faculty only].
 

VI. Examples of Specific Treaties Published Individually by Name

Geneva Treaty on the International Recording of Scientific Discoveries. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization, 1978 [location: JX7770 A2 G45 1978 - 3Anx].

InterAmerican Convention on Extradition, signed at Caracas, Venezuela, on February 25, 1981. Washington, D.C.: General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1981. [location: JX7727 T74 no. 60 - 3 Anx].

North American Free Trade Agreement. Washington, D.C.: Office of the United States Trade Representative, 1992 [location: KDZ945 .A41992 A2 1992 - Res].

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), done at Washington, June 19, 1970. Geneva, World Intellectual Property Organization, 1970 [location K1503.3197 A2 1970a - Balc].

Treaty of Nice: Amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties Establishing the European Communities, and Certain Related Acts. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; Lanham, MD: Bernan Associates [distributor], 2001 [location KJE4443.31992 .Z4 T75 2001 - 3Anx].