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INTRODUCTION:

International treaties, which are known by other names such as conventions, protocols, covenants, charters, etc. , operate within the framework of international law and are defined by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: "....an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law , whether....in a single instrument or two or more related instruments and whatever its particular designation." Treaties may be bilateral , involving two parties, or multilateral, including several parties. Treaties are binding only on the parties to the agreement, and they enter into force according to terms specified in the agreement.

U.S. Treaties and Agreements:
In the United States, there are two forms of agreements; one is known as the treaty and the other is the executive agreement:

Treaties to which the United States is a party are part of federal legislation and must go through the Senate to become ratified, and to become part of  " the supreme law of the land". Treaties are made "by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate" (Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the  Constitution).  To learn more about the process, consult the U.S. Senate web site.

Executive agreements can be made by the President and are not submitted to the Senate. The agreements are only applicable in domestic law if they are not approved by the Senate. However, under international law, both types of agreements are considered binding.

The Ratification Process:

1.The U.S. Department of State authorizes negotiation and the terms for the Foreign Service to undertake the actual process of the treaty or executive agreement.
2. U.S. representatives negotiate the terms of the treaty or the executive agreement.
3. When terms of the treaty are agreed upon, and the State Department authorizes it, the treaty  or executive agreement is signed by the President or designated representative.
4. The treaty is submitted to the Senate. The treaty must be approved by a 2/3 majority for ratification.
     The executive agreement, of which there are three types, enters into force without this step.
5. At that point, the President proclaims entry into force (the date the treaty is legally operative).
    The executive agreement is submitted to Congress after it enters into force.

It is possible for a Congressional session to end without ratification of the treaty. These treaties are called unperfected treaties. It does not mean the end of the treaty, however. Approximately 1/3 of all treaties signed by the U.S. are not ratified. They may still be important, though, for countries may choose to follow the provisions without ratification.

Elements of researching treaties and agreements:

The U.S. has the most extensive treaty document system of any nation. Elements include historical and current treaty collections, indexes, status tables, and non-governmental publications. In order to fully research a treaty, one must do the following steps:
1) Locate the full text of the treaty.
2) Find out the status and ratification of the treaty.
3) Find out the intent through working documents (legislative history) and background information.
Publications tend to be slow and lag behind the actual signing date of the treaty, and they have little or no indexing, therefore finding out the status and intent of a treaty can be a research challenge.

Research Guides:
Good overviews of international treaty resources, including the U.S. treaty sources and guides on the treaty-making process:

Accidental Tourist on the New Frontier : An Introductory Guide to Global Legal Research / edited by Jeanne Rehberg and Radu D. Popa.     K 85 .A27 1998

Guide to International Legal Research, Compiled by the editors of the George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics.   REF KZ 1234 .G85 2002

Germain's Transnational Legal Research: A Guide for Attorneys / A . REF K85.G47 1991

Internet Guides:

ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Treaties
Treaties Research Guide-Duke University Law Library
New York University Law Library; Treaties

United States Statutes at Large. U.S. GPO

As the "supreme" law of the land, all treaties and international agreements were published here until the 1950-51 Congressional session. Treaties began in 1903 and international agreements began in 1931. A complete list is located in part 3 of Volume 64.
KF 50 .U5

Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949 (Bevans)

This is the most comprehensive retrospective treaty collection. A compilation of all treaties whether or not they are presently in force. Includes all treaties/agreements originally published in Statutes at Large.
KZ 236 1968

United States Treaties and other International Agreements, 1950-Present.

(U.S.T.) Washington D.C.: U.S. Dept. of State.

Official publication of all agreements and treaties to which U.S. is a party. Contains full text, chronology and translations in the official language. Arranged in chronological order, it lists all documents covered on first page. It has a non-cumulative index by both subject matter and country. The series, cited as U.S.T., may have more than one bound volume per year. This publication lags 8-10 years behind.
KZ 235.3 U55

Treaties and other International Acts Series, U.S. Dept. of State, 1946-Present.
(T.I.A.S.)

Pamphlet series which serves as advance sheets for bound U.S.T. volumes. Each new treaty or agreement comes out first in this form, arranged chronologically in order of publication. Cited as T.I.A.S., all of these documents are listed in Monthly Catalog, put out by the Government Printing Office. This series has a lag time of 5-6 years.
KZ 235.32 .U55

Senate Treaty Documents
 Some selected treaties are published and available through the GPO ACCESS site. Treaty documents from the 104th Congress are available on the Congressional Documents page.

Treaties in Force: (TIF) A List of Treaties and other International Agreements, 1929-Present. U.S. Dept. of State

Annual publication lists all agreements to which the U.S. is a party and in force at the beginning of each year. Arranged by country and by subject. Gives references to UST cites and TIAS numbers. Lists status and cites back to Statutes at Large and other treaty collections. Indispensable resource for verification of existence of a treaty.  Bilateral treaties arranged alphabetically by other country's name; multilateral treaties arranged by subject. Often provides T.I.A.S., U.S.T., and U.N.T.S. cites. Also available on LEXIS (INTLAW; TIF); Westlaw (USTIF file and HeinOnline (subscription database through the Loyola Law Library card catalog; for use only in the library).
KZ 235 .T74

A Guide to the United States Treaties in Force. By Igor Kavass.

Used in conjunction with TIF, it is an annual index, with access by combined subject, as well as by numerical and country arrangement. Provides chronological list of all treaties in force. Excellent research tool to access treaties. Available on HeinOnline (subscription database in library)
KZ 235 .G85

United States Treaty Index, 1776-1990 consolidation compiled by Igor Kavass.

One of most comprehensive sources, it provides subject, chronological and country indexes. (The set is available on CD-ROM, Hein's United States Treaty Index on CD-ROM KZ 235 .H45).
KZ 235 .U58 1991

Current Treaty Index, 1982-Present. Annual; Compiled by Igor Kavass;

Cumulative index to U.S. treaties and agreements not published in TIAS. Includes treaties without TIAS numbers. It supplements the United States Treaty Index. Available on HeinOnline with coverage back to 1982.
KZ 235 .C87

Index to International Treaties and Agreements, 1994. Edited by Erwin Surrency, Oceana Publications.

A 1-volume looseleaf, updated to1998, it provides a country and subject index , as well as a date signed index to treaties to which the United States is a party. Provides CTIA cite and are published quarterly. Available in electronic format.(LEXIS (INTLAW library, USTRTY file).
KZ 235 .I53

Congressional Index, 1939-Present. Loose-leaf service in 2 volumes. The Senate volume has a "Treaty Section" which gives status of treaties pending before the Senate
REF KF 49 .C6

They are also available through Congressional Universe which can be found in the law library's online catalog.    under "Links to Law Library Resources." The documents are indexed from 1970.

CIS Index/Index to Publications of the United States Congress. 1970-Present.

Treaties in the Senate Treaty Document Series are indexed here. Access is through subject matter of the treaty, or title of treaty as well as by the heading "Treaties and Agreements" and treaty document number (assigned by the Senate) Indexes Senate treaty documents, hearings and Senate Executive Reports; in full-text. Research may also be done using the Congressional Universe  through the law library online catalog from 1970.
Index Table-2nd Floor

The following services publish the treaties from U.S.T. and T.I.A.S., the two official sources for the treaties, in a more timely manner, before they are published by the Department of State.

Hein's United States Treaties and other International Agreements, 1990-Present.

A microfiche service makes documents available before the State Department releases them for publication. Use the United States Treaty Index and the Current Treaty Index to locate the correct microfiche. Good source for recent treaties.
Micro KZ 235.3 .U555

Consolidated Treaties & International Agreements, (CTIA) 1990-Present, compiled and edited by Erwin C. Surrency; Oceana Publications.

Continuation of the parent set, Consolidated Treaty Series (1969-1986) it seeks to include new international agreements, executive agreements and formal treaties, which have been ratified.
KZ 235.5 .U55

International Legal Materials (ILM)

Published by the American Society of International Law since 1962. It is available in the Loyola Law Library at: KZ 64 .I58.

Source for selected full-text treaties, often the only place they are published until they come out in the official source.

ILM is available on LEXIS (INTLAW;ILM) and on  WESTLAW (ILM).

Unperfected Treaties of the United States of America, 1976-1994. Edited, annotated by Christian L. Wiktor. Oceana Publications.

Annotated collection of treaties with U.S. as a party from 1776-1976 that did not go into force.
KZ 236 1976

Once the full text of the treaty is found, its status must be determined. If it is multilateral, the parties to the agreement, the entry into force, and any amendments have to be researched. Parties may have reservations about parts of the treaty, and they may state "declarations" which point out the provisions which will be followed. Since many treaties are not ratified, it is important to research the legislative history to get full information

Status of Treaties:Print Sources

NOTE: Before ratification of a treaty, check the status in CCH Congressional Index. REF KF 49 .C6

After ratification, but before the advance sheet, they are published in the
Senate Treaty Document Series.
Micro KF 49 U552 or Serial Set Range 324

Presidential Documents: Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States are two sources for treaty status for the Presidential proclamation when the Senate has ratified it.
J 80 .A283 and J 80 .A284

Shepard's United States Citations: Provides citations to cases and statutes that cite or affect treaties.

United States Code Service: unnumbered volume contains "Notes to Uncodified Laws and Treaties", which provide interpretation. The USCS is found also on LEXIS.

NOTE: Sources for finding ratification status of a treaty include: The Federal Register, Title 3 of the CFR,USCCAN and Statutes at Large

There are specialized treaty collections available on the Internet which are topic-related usually in the area of private international law and ones to which the U.S. is a party.

The following Internet sites may be checked for status of recent treaties:

Official Status of U.S. Treaties - Internet Sites:

U. S. Department of State

The "Treaty Actions" section lists the status of recent U.S. treaties. The periods from 1997-2003 can be found on the site. The State Dept. used to issue a weekly newsletter called "Dispatch", which had current information on treaties. It ceased publication in 1999, but the editions are available on the web site or on LEXIS or WESTLAW.
NOTE: Or call the Dept. of State's Office of Treaty Affairs at (202) 647-1345 for treaty information.

The U.S. Senate web site:

This is an excellent source for U.S. treaty information and treaty documents. While the treaties are moving through the ratification process, they can be tracked. There are many links to other sites, in particular the  THOMAS web site, which provides the full text of the treaties, from 1993-present.

GPO ACCESS: Senate, House and Treaty Documents

The Senate Treaty Documents, as recent as from 30 days, can be found on this Government Printing Office Internet site. Documents are posted from the 104th Congress-Present. They include the text of the treaties submitted to the Senate along with supporting documentation.
    The Senate Executive Reports, also found on this web site from the 104 Congress on, are issued by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and include the analysis and recommendations on proposed treaties. Documents are also in the Serial Set and CIS publications.
  Congressional Record Index, also on this web site, provides a listing of treaty actions. Good source of legislative history on a treaty,
    Congressional committee hearings are found on this web site which give current information on treaties received from the President as well as recent treaty status actions. Available on Congressional Universe,  accessed through the Law Library Online Catalog.

NOTE: Besides the Serial Set (print and microfiche), these documents are available through LEXIS (US Treaties) and WESTLAW (USTREATIES).