LibGuides: International Law: Treaties

Top Sources for Treaties

United States is a Party

U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library - HeinOnline
U.S. treaties and agreements currently in force, for those no longer in force, and for those that have not yet entered into force. Good source for older treaties and older Senate Documents. Senate documents sometimes indexed under date of original treaty, or some date other than the date of the actual document.
Congress.gov Treaty Documents
Information is available on Congress.gov for all treaties submitted to the Senate since the 94th Congress (1975-1976). Treaties submitted prior to the 94th Congress are included if they were pending in 1975. About Treaty Documents
The full text of treaty documents are not available on Congress.gov before 1995.
United States Treaties and Other International Agreements
Treaties and Senate Treaty Documents back to 1990.

United States is NOT (necessarily) a party

HeinOnline World Treaty Library
United Nations Treaty Series (1946 to current) plus Older Treaties
United Nations Law Collection - HeinOnline
Includes United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) and other treaty publications.
United Nations Treaty Collection
More than 100,000 multilateral and bilateral treaties registered or recorded with the U.N. since 1946. Includes United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS)

Other Sources for Treaties

Free Web Sources

FLARE Index to Treaties
Searchable database of the most significant multilateral treaties from the 1600s and onward, and a number of bilateral treaties 1353-1815, with links to full text when available.
United States Treaties and International Agreements
Library of Congress. The United States Treaties collection includes the United States Treaty Series (1795-1945) and United States Treaties and Other International Agreements or TIAS (1950-1984). This collection includes treaties to which the United States is or was a party in the agreement.
U.S. State Department Treaties in Force
Treaties in Force is published annually by the Department of State to provide information on treaties and other international agreements to which the United States has become a party and which are carried on the records of the Department of State as of January 1st in its most recent publication year.
EUR-Lex - European Union Treaties
Council of Europe Treaties
Organization of the American States - Treaties and Agreements
The Avalon Project
Historical treaties.

Limited coverage of treaties on Lexis and Westlaw

Lexis+ - All Treaties
Some treaties are on Lexis. In the big box, type All Treaties. Or try US Treaties on Lexis (1776-current), or U.S. Treaties in Force.
USCS - International Conventions
Case annotations of case interpreting selected treaties to which the U.S. is a party.
Westlaw - contains some treaties
U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements, European Union Treaties.

Tutorials and Guides for Finding Treaties

Treaty Research Guide
From Vanderbilt University Law Library.
Treaty Research Guide
by Georgetown Law Library

Human Rights Treaties

Regional Human Rights Systems

There are regional human rights systems in Europe, the Americas and Africa. These have their own treaties, reporting structures, and complaint systems. These are the major human rights treaties for each region:

Africa: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul Charter), and Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
Americas: American Convention on Human Rights and American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man.
Europe: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (click on the in English hyperlink).

For more treaties from each region, click here to read chapter 3 of the U.N.'s Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers.

Eight Main U.N. Human Rights Treaties

There are eight main U.N. human rights treaties. Each treaty has a corresponding "treaty body" which administers the treaty, keeps track of state parties and their reservations and declarations, receives and responds to reports compiled by state parties, and hears complaints in accordance with the treaty.

Finding Treaties and Other Documents Related to Treaty Bodies

Bayefsky.com
This site provides links to reports, concluding observations, ratifications, reservations and declarations, jurisprudence and other types of documents on the major U.N. human rights treaties. It is searchable by type of document, country, or subject matter.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human RIghts
This web site provides access to treaties, state reports, comments, and most other documentation. There is an option for Human Rights Bodies at the top menu. Once you click on that, you can specify a treaty. The OHCHR also offers the U.N. Treaty Body Database which is searchable by country, U.N. document symbol, treaty, committee, date, and type of document. This can be handy when you want to locate reports or documents from many different treaties that are all related to one country.