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601 Locating U.S. Treaties



Publication of U.S. Treaties

Official Publications

  1. United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.), 4th floor, JX231 A34  Official bound publication of treaties since December 1949. Since 1949, U.S. treaties have been published in United States Treaties and Other International Agreements.  They are arranged by their Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.) number.  The TIAS number is the treaty equivalent of the public law number given to new laws. 
     
  2. Statutes at Large ( ___ Stat. ___) (second fl, bay-D)  
    Prior to December 1949, treaties were published in the Statutes at Large  The Statutes at Large includes international agreements from volume 47 (1931/32) on.  Volume 7 contains all U.S.-Indian treaties 1778-1845. Volume 8 has all treaties between the U.S. and foreign nations 1778-1845.
     

Sources for the Text of Recent Treaties

  1. Consolidated Treaties & International Agreements, 4th Floor,  JX236 1990  Publishes recently ratified treaties and executive agreements prior to official slip publication in T.I.A.S. (Published quarterly since 1990).
     
  2. Hein Online Treaties Library
     
  3. Hein's United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Current Service [microfiche] (Bi-monthly) (Central Basement; Microfiche Cabinet G, Drawer 5)


Other Collections of U.S. Treaties

  1. U.S. Treaties on Lexis (1776-) (Requires Lexis password.)
    Covers from 1776 through recent months; includes unratified treaties from January 1981 (Treaty Doc 97-1)
     
  2. US Treaties on Westlaw (1778-) (Requires Westlaw password.)
     
  3. Private International Law-- database from the U.S. Department of State.  The database is organized into the following categories:
    • Commercial Law
    • Judicial Assistance
    • Arbitration and Judgments
    • Family Law
    • Wills, Trusts and Estates
    • General Resources

    4. Each category (other than General Resources) generally includes the following subheadings:
    • Private International Law ("PIL") conventions to which the U.S. is a party
    • PIL conventions for which U.S. ratification/accession is under consideration
    • Other PIL conventions (illustrative only – not meant to be comprehensive)
    • Other PIL instruments (e.g., model laws, legislative guides, etc.)
    • Work in progress
      •  
  4. Treaties and Other Int'l Agreements, 4th Floor, JX236 1968 .A5.  Covers 1716-1949.
     
  5. Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols and Agreements,  4th Floor, JX236 1910. Covers 1776-1937.
     
  6. Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States, 4th Floor, JX236 1931a. Covers 1776-1863.
     
  7. Treaties and Conventions Concluded between the United States of America and Other Powers since July 4, 1776, 4th Floor, JX236 1889. Covers 1776-1889.
     
  8. Martindale Hubbell International Law Digest, Available on Lexis. Contains a few important international conventions to which the U.S. is a party.
     
  9. Tax Treaties: Full Texts of U.S. Treaties with Foreign Countries Covering Income and Estate Taxation, 4th Floor, K4568 A35 U55. The Underwood Law Library cancelled its print subscription to this title in 2006.


Indexes for U.S. Treaties

  1. Treaties in Force, Reserve (current year) and 4th Floor (previous years), JX236 1929c) Index to treaties currently in force. Lists all U.S. treaties in force as of January 1 of the year issued. Provides the treaty’s place of publication - if it has been published.
    Treaties in Force is also available from the Department of State at
    http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/treaties/2009/index.htm.  This is a pdf version and may be more difficult to use than the paper or Lexis versions. 
     
  2. Treaties in Force on LEXIS Includes hyperlinks to the treaties themselves.
    Location: All Sources > Area of Law - By Topic > International Law > Treaties & International Agreements > Treaties in Force 
     
  3. U.S.T. Cumulative Index, 4th Floor, JX231 A34. Index Index for all U.S. treaties, whether in force or not, since 1949.
     
  4. United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Cumulative Indexes 1776-1949, 4th Floor, JX231 .A34 Index. Covers 1776-1949. Updated by Current Treaty Index (below).
     
  5. Current Treaty Index (title changed to Kavass' Current Treaty Index in 2008), 4th Floor,  JX236.5 C87 1992 (Annual) Updates United States Treaties and Other International Agreements Cumulative Indexes and serves as an index to Hein's electronic collection of treaties and executive agreements. Provides a “KAV” number to each document’s location in the microfiche set. Also provides a reference to the text of the treaty in paper if available.


Status of U.S. Treaties

  1. Treaties in Force See above. 
     
  2. Recent Treaty Actions from the Department of State  http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/c3428.htm
    Multi-lateral section includes acceptances by other countries. Dates from 1997.
     
  3. United States Senate Treaty Information: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/d_three_sections_with_teasers/treaties.htm 


Locating Treaty Text Prior to Ratification

  1. Senate Treaty Documents
    Treaties, when submitted to the Senate, are published as Treaty Documents and identified by a Treaty Document Number (e.g. 100-1). In addition to the above online source available at the U.S. Senate website, Senate Treaty Documents in print from 1981 (97th Congress) to the present are available in the Central Basement of the library (shelved in a series beginning Y1.1/4:_____ ). In addition to the text of the treaty, Treaty Documents usually contain a message from the President and one from the Secretary of State explaining and analyzing the treaty.

    Prior to 1981, treaties were published in the Senate Executive Document Series. Executive Reports are found at Y 1.1/6: __ (Underwood Central Basement)

    The CIS microfiche collection contains both series of documents beginning with 1971.

    Treaty Documents are available on the Internet beginning with the 104th Congress at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/index.html.

  1. Senate Executive Documents From 1946 (79th Congress) treaties prior to ratification were published as Senate Executive Documents and identified by a letter, Congress and session (e.g. Executive C, 80-1). Prior to 1946 treaties generally were confidential before ratification. Treaties, unlike bills, may be held over from one Congress to the next.

Treaty Documents and Senate Executive Documents can be located using:

  1. Lexis Nexis Congressional (Underwood subscription database. Accessible from law quad only.) Online equivalent of CIS Index. Index for (and for recent Congresses full text access to) the following:
    • Senate Treaty Documents (1981-)
    • Senate Executive Reports (1971-) A Senate Executive Reports contains committee recommendations concerning the ratification of a proposed treaty.

    2. To access, click "CIS Index" on upper left part of screen. Then select "Document Number" from lower right part of next screen. Then choose " Treaty Document" or "Exec. Rpt." as your type of publication.

  1. Westlaw Database:USTREATIES  Senate treaty documents are available from 103rd Congress (1993) forward.
     
  2. The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, Central Basement, Z1223 A186.
    Also on the GPO Access website: http://catalog.gpo.gov/F?RN=656262098.


Other Internet Sites for Locating Treaties

  1. United Nations Treaty Collection: http://untreaty.un.org/ 
     
  2. Multilaterals Project: Multilateral Treaties from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html


Revised September 2010