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Researching Multilateral Treaties

Multilateral treaties are agreements between more than two parties. They are often the result of an international conference or a gathering of nations done under the auspices of an international organization.

As when researching U.S. treaties and agreements, the researcher is usually interested:

• Locating the text of the treaty or agreement.
• Obtaining status and ratification information for specific countries.
• Finding any reservations or declarations that may amend the terms of the treaty.
• Researching the intent through background documents (negotiation, legislative history).

Treaty Indexes

Consult a treaty index to locate a citation to the text of a treaty. While there are many indexes, the ones listed below are particularly useful.

• Multilateral Treaty Calendar is an excellent index and covers 1649-1995. Arranged chronologically with a subject index.
• Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General provides citation and status information, but is limited to treaties deposited with the U.N. Secretary-General.
• United Nations Cumulative Treaty Index is a very comprehensive index to U.N. treaties. This multi-volume set contains a numerical, chronological, country and subject list. It is far superior to the index that accompanies United Nations Treaty Series (U.N.T.S.). Updated by CD-ROM.

Full-text Sources

These treaty collections are some of the basic sources for locating multilateral treaties and are available in most academic libraries.

• Consolidated Treaty Series (often cited to as C.T.S. or Consol. T.S.) is a comprehensive set covering 1648 to 1918.
• United Nations Treaty Series (cited to as U.N.T.S.) is the most important and complete source of treaties, both bilateral and multilateral. Portions of this collection are available the web on the United Nations Treaty Collection. The League of Nations Treaty Series (cited to as L.N.T.S.) preceded U.N.T.S. and is available in print and on the same website.
• International Legal Materials (cited to as I.L.M.) publishes selected treaties and agreements. Also available on LexisNexis, Westlaw, and HeinOnline. ILM is a standard tool for the international legal researcher.
• Avalon Project is a good collection of older treaties and agreements.
• Multilaterals Project is a solid website containing various multilateral treaties.
• Both LexisNexis and Westlaw provide access to a variety of multilateral treaties on selected topics, such as international trade, environment and taxation. However, neither database is comprehensive.
• Frequently-Cited Treaties and Other International Instruments is a compilation that can provide quick and easy access to many multilateral treaties as well as to citation information.
• EISIL (Electronic Information System for International Law) provides links to the best websites for multilateral treaties and other international instruments. In most cases, citation and other value-added information is available.

Research Tip
These are just a few of the many treaty series available. Others major collections include the OAS Treaty Series and the European Treaty Series. When using the web for treaty research, focus on the IGO that sponsored the treaty or try a subject-oriented website. Many international organizations, especially U.N. bodies and specialized agencies, post multilateral treaties on their websites. These collections provide access to the agreements as well as the most up-to-date status and ratification information.

Some specialized collections of agreements include:

• International Human Rights Instruments is a good collection of the basic international human rights treaties, provided by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR).
• ILOLEX contains international labor standards from the International Labour Organization (ILO). These agreements focus on subjects concerning labor, employment, and social security.
• Intellectual Property Treaties created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is responsible for administering intellectual property treaties.
• Hague Conference on Private International Law provides information about and access to the private international law treaties administered by the Hague Conference.

Research Tip
It is worth your time to check if the country or the body named as the depository (the custodian of the treaty) has a website. If so, the site might provide access to the documents as well as up-to-date status and ratification information.

Ratification & Status Information

Determining whether a treaty or agreement has gone into force or if a country has ratified an agreement can be a difficult task. The web has made this an easier job for some treaties, but certainly not for all. Often the only sources for this information are the indexes mentioned above, but these are not always updated.

• Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General provides current status and ratification information, but is limited to treaties deposited with the U.N. Secretary-General.
• Many web collections and IGOs mentioned above provide this information on their websites.
• Contact the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs Treaty Section (212) 963-2523 (phone) or (212) 963-3693 (fax) or email them at treaty@un.org.

Research Tip
Journal articles are a good source for updated ratification and status information. Some journals update this information for specific treaties every year, such as Human Rights Law Journal (human rights treaties), Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (Hague conventions).

Reservations & Declarations

Reservations and declarations provide very important pieces of information. If a country does not want to be bound to particular provision of an agreement, the country may issue a reservation or declaration to limit its application. Locating this information can be more difficult than status information.

• Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General contains the text of reservation and declarations for those treaties deposited with the U.N. Secretary General.
• Some collections of treaties do provide this information, such as the European Treaty Series.

Background Information

Researching background information may entail looking for negotiation history ( “travaux préparatoires”) and treaty interpretation.

Some ways to find these materials:

• Identify the organization responsible for the treaty negotiations, often this is the U.N. or one of its specialized agencies. Many multilateral treaties are negotiated at international conferences. If it is a recent conference, see if there is a website for the conference or the sponsoring body.
• Locate U.N. conference documents.
• Search for articles and books on the topic. Look for titles with the phrase “travaux préparatoires".
• A la Recherche des Travaux Préparatoires: An Approach to Researching the Drafting History of International Agreement provides detailed advice for finding the negotiating histories of multilateral treaties.

Research Tip
If you need assistance with finding U.N. documents, see the Researching the United Nations research guide.