Research Guide: Foreign and International Law

Treaties can be bilateral (involving only two sovereign states) or multilateral (involving three or more sovereign states). Parties to a treaty may ratify it subject to reservations or declarations. Some multilateral treaties are drafted and coordinated by international organizations such as the United Nations.

This page includes information on how to find the text of a treaty and how to determine its current status.

Like the United States, many other countries publish their own sets of treaties to which they are a party, similar to UST and TIAS. However, the United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) publishes treaties from all United Nations member states, including the U.S, going back to 1946.

The League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS) published treaties registered with the Secretariat of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1946. Both the UNTS and the LNTS can be found online on the United Nations Treaty Collection site and HeinOnline's United Nations Law Collection. In addition, the UNTS can be found on the World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) site.

The Consolidated Treaty Series (CTS) collects the text of international agreements from 1648 to 1919. It is available in print on the mezzanine level at KZ120 .P35.

Certain international organizations take key roles in drafting and coordinating agreements between member states. These treaties can be found on the websites of these organizations.

Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General is a publication of the United Nations that tracks the status of over 500 treaties and includes information on signatories and ratification and the texts of reservations, declarations, and observations. It can be found online in the United Nations Treaty Collection and the HeinOnline United Nations Law Collection.