Foreign, Comparative, and International Legal Research

Treaties may have various appellations - convention, covenant, protocol, charter, pact, etc. - and can be bilateral (between two countries) or multilateral (between multiple countries)

Individual countries may ratify a multilateral treaty with reservations – pay attention to these.  Also note that for multilateral treaties, the treaty may not go into effect until a certain number of countries sign, and some countries may join at a later date, so check all dates.

Below are some sources for finding treaties.  Most, but not all, are free and publicly available.

International Treaties

• United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS)
  The most authoritative treaty compilation in the world.  UNTS contains treaties that have been reported  and entered into force.  Because the publication cycle is slow, very recent treaties may not yet be available..

• League of Nations Treaty Series
  The League of Nations (1920-46) was the United Nation’s forerunner.  The United Nations Treaty Collection includes treaties registered with the League of Nations Secretariat.

• Consolidated Treaty Series (CTS)
  CTS covers the period 1648-1919 and, although it lacks official standing, may be the most authoritative source for the treaties it contains.

• International Legal Materials (ILM)
  ILM is an unofficial but well-respected compilation of international law materials, including treaties.  For modern treaties that have not yet been published in UNTS, ILM may be the most authoritative citation available.

Regional and Issue-Specific Treaties

International organizations can play a role in treaty-making, including serving as a negotiation forum or as a repository for treaties in specific issue areas or specific regions.  The international organizations listed below are only some of the more common treaty resources that do not charge fees to view their content.

• African Union (AU) - OAU/AU Treaties, Conventions, Protocols & Charters

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Legal Instruments

• Council of Europe (COE) – Complete List of the Council of Europe’s Treaties

• ECOLEX – Treaties
  ECOLEX, an information service jointly operated by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and the UN Environmental Program, maintains a database of multilateral environmental agreements.

• European Union (EU) – European Commission Treaties Office Database

• Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations – FAO Treaties Database

• Hague Conference on Private International Law - Conventions, Protocols and Principles

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – Treaties, States Parties and Commentaries

• International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

• International Labour Organization (ILO)

• Organization of American States (OAS)
  The database contains multilateral treaties and bilateral agreements.

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

• World Trade Organization (WTO)

National Treaty Series

Most countries maintain records of their treaty commitments and related documentation.  Increasingly, these resources are publicly available online.  Some of the most useful national databases are below.

• Australia

• Belgium

• Canada

• Japan

• Kenya

• The Netherlands

• South Africa

• Switzerland

• United Kingdom

• United States

Status Lists

Treaties are not universally binding; their obligations only bind their parties.  Use the resources below to confirm whether a particular state or international organization is a party, when it consented to be bound; and whether it made any reservations or declarations in the process of giving consent.  The depositary maintains “status lists” with this information.  The most significant are below.

• The UN Secretary-General
  The UN Secretary-General acts as the depository for a large number of multilateral treaties negotiated and adopted under the UN’s auspices.

• The United States of America

  The United States acts as the depositary of, inter alia, the following treaties:

1944 Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation

1949 North Atlantic Treaty

1959 Antarctic Treaty

1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

1967 Outer Space Treaty

1972 Biological Weapons Convention

• The Swiss Federal Government
  Switzerland is the depositary of, inter alia, the following treaties:

1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols

• The Netherlands Government
  The Netherlands acts as the depositary of, inter alia, the treaties of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the 1899 and 1907 Hague Peace Conventions. 

Many thanks to Temple University Beasley School of Law Professor Duncan Hollis for sharing his Researching Treaties guide, which formed the basis for this tab’s content.

View Professor Hollis's "Law of Treaties" lecture series from the Audiovisual Library of International Law.

• Part I: Situating Treaties in History, Functions, and Sources
• Part II: Defining the Treaty and Assessing the Alternatives
• Part III: Treaty Formation - Negotiation, Consent, Entry into Force and Provisional Application
• Part IV: Limiting Treaties - Validity Rules and Reservations
• Part V: Treaties in Operation - Interpretation, Domestic Application, Amendments, and Treaty Exit