Research Guides : International and Foreign Law Research: U.S. Treaties

LOCATING U.S. TREATIES & EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS

Use one of the following two indexes to locate CURRENTLY IN-FORCE TREATIES to verify if a treaty exists on a particular topic. .

U.S. Treaties in Force in HeinOnline, Lexis, Westlaw, or U.S. State Department,
Kavass' Guide to Treaties in Force

Use any of the following indexes for locating both HISTORICAL or CURRENT treaties.

U.S. Treaty Index
Kavass' Current Treaty Index
U.S. Department of State Treaty Actions: Most Current or Archived Sites of Former Presidents

Before 1950, all U.S. treaties and agreements were published in the U.S. Statutes-at-Large. The Treaty Series (TS) published Article 2 treaties and for a period of time (1922-1945), Executive Agreements were published separately in the Executive Agreement Series (EAS).

U.S. Statutes-at-Large (Library of Congress Archives, HeinOnline, Lexis, Westlaw, ProQuest Congressional)
Executive Agreement Series (EAS)
Treaty Series (TS)

The following sources are unofficial publications for U.S. treaties published before 1950.

The following two subscription databases are compilations of current and historical U.S. treaties from a variety of sources.

U.S. Treaties on LEXIS
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U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements
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Senate Treaty Documents

Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS)

United States Treaty Series (UST)

HeinOnline (Vols. 1-35, 1950-1984)
U.S. Treaties on Lexis (1946-1984)
Westlaw (Vols. 1-35, 1950-1984)

Unofficial Sources and Collections

Consolidated Treaties & International Agreements (1994-1984)
Kavass Agreements
U.S. Treaties on LEXIS (contains compilation of UST, TIAS, Senate Treaty Documents, Statutes-at-Large treaties, Bevans Treaties from 1776 onward.)
U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements on Westlaw (contains compilation of UST, TIAS, Senate Treaty Documents, Statutes-at-Large treaties, NAFTA, and GATT, from 1776 onward).

TRAVAUX PRÉPARATOIRES

Audiovisual Library of International Law
International Law Commission
The documentary history of treaties on the law of treaties from 1955-1966 is found on the ILC website.
Globalex Research Guide:
Provides a definition of the travaux préparatoires to an international agreement and a set of models to guide researchers in locating these documents.
United Nations Diplomatic Conferences
The travaux préparatoires of United Nations treaties concluded between 1958 and 1998 can be found here.

UNITED STATES RATIFICATION HISTORY

See the table below for where to locate documents during each stage of the ratification process.
Collection of ratification history documents can be freely located at Congress.gov.
Hearings held during the ratification process can be freely located at GovInfo.

IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION

ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window A Federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full text publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws.

TREATY RATIFICATION PROCESS

TREATY ACTION	DOCUMENT PRODUCED	LOCATION OF DOCUMENT
The President or Executive Branch . . .
negotiates and signs treaty.	Press Release	U.S. Department of State Bulletin White House Press Briefings
submits treaty to Senate.	List	Treaties Received by Senate (current Congress) Treaties Pending in Senate (all Congresses)
The Senate . . .
refers treaty to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.	S. Treaty Doc. No.	GovInfo; Congress.gov; ProQuest Congressional
Senate Foreign Relations Committee may . . .
Conduct hearings	S. Com. Hearings	GovInfo; Proquest Congressional; HeinOnline; Westlaw; Lexis, Recent Hearings
Recommend to Full Senate in a report	S. Ex. Rept. No.	GovInfo; Congress.gov; Lexis; Westlaw's USCCAN
Place treaty on Executive Calendar	Executive Calendar	Executive Calendar
THE FULL SENATE . . .
Considers text (Advice) during floor debates	Congressional Record	Congress.gov / FDSys 1994+; US Senate / Lexis / Westlaw
Votes on the "resolution of ratification" (Consent* requires 2/3 majority of the Senate)*	Amendments / Voting History	Senate Roll Call Voters / ProQuest Congressional
President ratifies the treaty.	Treaties in Force (index) TIAS & UST	HeinOnline; Lexis; Westlaw HeinOnline; Lexis; Westlaw
	Collection of Ratification History Documents	Congress.gov (free)

Finding Treaties by Subject

CCH Tax Research
IRS Website

International and Foreign Law Research: U.S. Treaties

LOCATING U.S. TREATIES & EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS

Use one of the following two indexes to locate CURRENTLY IN-FORCE TREATIES to verify if a treaty exists on a particular topic. .

TRAVAUX PRÉPARATOIRES

TREATY RATIFICATION PROCESS

Finding Treaties by Subject

Helpful Materials