QUICK GUIDE:  TREATY RESEARCH IN A NUTSHELL

Locating a Treaty When the United States is Not a Party

I. What Sources to Cite to:

According to Bluebook Rule 21.4.5(b), if the United States in not a party to a treaty, cite to one source published by an intergovernmental organization if therein. The most common source for treaties published by an intergovernmental organization is the United Nations Treaty Series (U.N.T.S.).
	• If not published in a source issued by an intergovernmental organization (U.N.T.S.), cite to the official source of one signatory, if therein, indicating parenthetically the jurisdiction whose source is cited according to Bluebook Rule 20.1 if not otherwise obvious from the context.
	• If the treaty is not found in a signatory’s treaty source, cite to an unofficial treaty source which will generally be International Legal Materials (I.L.M.).

When trying to locate a treaty that the U.S. is not a party to, the number of options are limited. The following electronic and print indexes can be used to locate a citation to a treaty source.
Print Sources
	Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status (1856-1993)
		[Reserve and Ready Reference: KZ 118 .B68 1984 with Supplement]
	Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General: Status as at 31 December.... (1946-)
		[Latest edition on Ready Reference KZ 171 .M85] (Available Online at U.N Treaty Collection Online)
	Multilateral Treaty Calendar = Repertoire des Traites Multilateraux, 1648-1995.
		[ Ready Reference KZ118 .W55 1998]
	United Nations Cumulative Treaty Index
		[ LL2: KZ 171 .U56]
	World Treaty Index [ LL2: KZ173 .R63 1983]
	Index-Guide to Treaties : Based on the Consolidated Treaty Series.... [ LL2: KZ120 .P352]
Electronic Indexes:
	Treaties and International Agreements Online (TIARA)
		TIARA provides access to the full text of over 13,000 treaties and international agreements. It includes all treaties and international agreements ratified by the U.S., major treaties in the process of ratification, and all tax treaties, even those to which the U.S. is not a party. Basic and advanced searching options provide numerous access points to the data. PDF versions of the official texts of many U.S. treaties are included that have been taken from sources such as Senate Treaty Documents, TIAS and UST.
	United Nations Treaty Collection (1946-)

 last updated: 7/10/07