LAW International Law
Treaty Definitions
Here are a few legal definitions to get you started understanding treaty research:
- Treaty = An agreement formally signed, ratified, or adhered to between two countries or sovereigns; an international agreement concluded between two or more states in written form and governed by international law. — Also termed accord; convention; covenant; declaration (Black's Law Dictionary 11th ed. 2019).
- Protocol = A treaty amending and supplementing another treaty (Black's Law Dictionary 11th ed. 2019).
- International Agreement = An international agreement in writing between two states (a bilateral treaty) or a number of states (a multilateral treaty). Such agreements can also be known as conventions, pacts, protocols, final acts, arrangements, and general acts. Treaties are binding in international law and constitute the equivalent of the municipal-law contract, conveyance, or legislation… (A Dictionary of Law (9th ed.) (Oxford University Press) “International Agreement”).
- International Instruments = A broader term used by international organizations such as the United Nations.
Canada's Treaties
For treaties with the Indigenous Peoples in Canada, please use the Indigenous Peoples and the Law guide:
Here are a few resources of bilateral and multilateral treaties available for Canada:
- Canada Treaty InformationDepartment of Global Affairs, Treaty Section.
- Tax Treaties : In ForceDepartment of Finance Canada bilateral treaties in force.
- Treaty Research ReportsAboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Canada's Historic Treaties with First Peoples includes resources on over 70 historical treaties negotiated with First Nations between 1701 and 1923.
- Canadiana Online This link opens in a new windowCanadiana online is a full-text searchable database that includes books, journals and government publications documenting Canadian History. The e-book collection, spans three and a half centuries of Canadian documentary history, holds rich primary materials exploring a wide range of subjects and disciplines. Topics range from major historical events to the development of institutions, laws, and science; from Canadian literature to philosophical treatises; from agriculture to politics, trade, and tariffs. The Serials collection includes a wide range of daily and weekly newspapers, specialized journals, and mass-market magazines, as well as city directories and annual reports from churches, schools, and corporations. Specialized publications include trade or industry journals as well as many men’s, women’s, student’s and children’s popular magazines. Early periodicals are an invaluable source of information for researchers in all fields, as they offer a remarkable record of thought and opinion on diverse issues. Lavishly-illustrated journals open a captivating window onto early Canadian society and culture through their articles, advertisements, cartoons, drawings, and photographs. The Government Publications collection includes over 1.7 million pages of historical pre-1920 colonial, provincial and federal government documents. This collection includes government acts, bills, committee reports, court rules, debates, journals, ordinances, a selection of official publications from France and Great Britain, sessional papers, regulations, royal commission reports, voter’s lists, and treaties.
Subject Treaties
Here are links to a selected list of commonly used subject-specific treaty sources:
- Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators ServiceENTRI, a comprehensive online service for accessing multilateral environmental treaty data. Find status data for environmental treaties, treaty text and other related information.
- Human Rights Treaties and Other InstrumentsUniversity of Minnesota Human Rights Library
- Global Preferential Trade Agreements DatabaseThe database was developed jointly by the World Bank and the Center for International Business.The Global Preferential Trade Agreements Database (GPTAD) provides information on preferential trade agreements (PTAs) around the world, including agreements that have not been notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
- Trade and Related Agreements Database (TARA)(TARA) includes active, binding agreements between the United States and its trading partners covering manufactured products and services. It is designed to provide the public with information on agreements currently in force and does not include agriculture agreements.
Multilateral Treaty Collections
The United Nations (UN) is the most common international organization for multilateral treaties to be registered which is called deposited. Since 1946, these are part of the United Nations Treaty Series which is abbreviated UNTS. From 1920 - 1946, they were part of the League of Nations Treat Series, abbreviated LNTS. Here are links to resources to find UN treaties.
- United Nations Law Collection This link opens in a new windowThe United Nations Law Collection presents exact reproductions of major United Nations legal publications, including the complete collection of the United Nations Treaty Series.
This collection contains various finding aids to help you quickly locate United Nations materials. You can search for a United Nations Treaty by treaty/registration number, date, parties involved, Kavass subject, and more. Or, you can pull up the full text of a United Nations Treaty by inserting the UNTS citation. Once you have located a specific United Nations Treaty, we have included a link to retrieve law review articles that cite that specific treaty. This allows you to not only find relevant articles that cite the treaty, but also to further link to documents such as U.S. Statutes, which are sometimes cited with the UNTS citation. We have also included an International Agreements by Popular Name index that will allow you to quickly jump to a treaty or treaties relevant to a popular treaty name. - United Nations digital library This link opens in a new windowSearchable database which offers public free access to current and historical United Nations documents, maps, speeches, voting data, as well as non-sales publications. System features include linked data between related documentation such as resolutions, meeting records and voting, and refining of searches by UN body, agency or type of document.
- United Nations Treaty Collection This link opens in a new windowIncludes online versions of the print publications: Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General, which incorporates the detailed status of over 485 multilateral treaties, and: (United Nations) Treaty series, which contains the texts of over 30,000 bilateral and multilateral treaties in their authentic language(s), along with a translation into English and French, as appropriate, for those treaties registered with the Secretariat. Also includes photographs of treaty signature ceremonies and Treaty handbook.
- World Treaty Library This link opens in a new windowBrings together Rohn, Dumont, Bevans, Martens, League of Nations, United States, and United Nations treaties into one easy-to-use and fully searchable database. Search a comprehensive treaty index by keywords, title, parties, sign date or citation. Also included are hundreds of related treaty publications, scholarly articles chosen by our editors, and a bibliography of related publications--Provided by publisher. Includes a link to US Treaties & Agreements.
Here are links to multilateral treaty sources beyond the United Nations.
- Flare Index to TreatiesA searchable database of basic information on over 2,000 of the most significant multilateral treaties and some bilateral treaties concluded between 1353 and the present, with details of where the full text of each treaty may be obtained in paper and, if available, electronic form on the internet. Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. University of London.
- Hague Conference on Private International LawThe World Organization for Cross- border Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters.
- International Treaties CollectionsOn WorldLII
- The Multilaterals Projects1992 - 2008, is a project to make available the texts of international multilateral conventions and other instruments.This site has been archived and is no longer regularly maintained. Information may be outdated.The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
- Organization of American States (OAS) Multilateral Treaties & Bilateral AgreementsSecretariat for Legal Affairs (SLA)
- Treaties and International Law(US House of Representatives Internet Law Library)
- World Treaty IndexUniversity of Washington Libraries, last updated 2007.
Foreign Treaties
Here are links to the main UK treaty websites.
- UK Treaties OnlineUK Treaties Online (UKTO) provides an official record of the UK's treaty obligations under international law and is sourced by Treaty Section of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. UKTO gives access to information on over 14,000 treaties to which the UK is or has been a party with links to texts of command papers published in the UK Treaty Series from 1892.
- United Kingdom Treaties LibraryOn BAILII.
Here are links to the main treaty sources for the United States of America.
- United States Department of State Treaties in ForceTreaties 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 as of January 1st in its most recent publication year
- United States Department of State Treaty AffairsThe Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs
- United States Income Tax Treaties - A to ZInternal Revenue Service
- U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library This link opens in a new windowSearchable database includes all U.S. treaties, whether currently in force, expired, or not yet officially published. Includes such prominent collections as the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements set (commonly referred to as the "Blue set") as well as famous sets from Bevans, Miller, Mallory and others. Supporting materials include historical books and periodicals relating to U.S. treaty-making as well as Congressional hearings and documents. Includes Kappler's Indian affairs, laws and treaties.
Bilateral and multilateral treaties are available through national treaty series for foreign jurisdictions.
- Australian Treaties LibraryOn AustLII.
- Base des Traités et Accords et de la FranceOver 1500 multilateral and 4000 bilateral treaties are in a searchable database with status information (in French).France Diplomatie Archives et patrimoine.
- Council of Europe Treaties Official WebsiteThe text of all Council of Europe treaties, their explanatory reports, the status of signatures and ratifications, the declarations and reservations made by States, as well as the notifications issued by the Treaty Office since 2005.Includes European Treaty Series, 1949-2004, (ETS #1-193) as well as Council of Europe Treaty Series, 2004-present, (CETS #194- )
- European Union TreatiesEUR-Lex Access to European Union Law.
- Pacific Islands Treaty SeriesOn PacLII.The Pacific Islands Treaty Series, "PITS", aims to be a comprehensive treaty database for the Pacific Islands region publishing bilateral and multilateral treaties which Pacific Island states have entered into amongst themselves, as well as with nations and organisations external to the region.
- South African Cyber Treaty SeriesEst. July 1997, last updated November 2001.
Specific UN Treaty Websites
Many United Nations Treaties have a dedicated website. These websites usually contain the text of the treaty and related documents, information about the treaty and how it is administered, and tribunal decisions. This is a selected list of treaty websites and links.
- Last Updated: Oct 2, 2024 8:13 AM
- URL: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/guides/internationallaw
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