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HANDOUT ON INTERNATIONAL LAW MATERIALS

This handout is highly selective and lists only some of the materials helpful when you are doing international legal research.

SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Treaties are a major source of international law (the law of nations). They can represent either the codified version of customary international law or agreements between or among various states. International agreements between two contracting states (or parties) are called bilateral treaties or agreements; agreements between more than two contracting states (or parties) are called multinational treaties or agreements. Contracting parties are bound by the terms of their international agreements as long as they agree to be so bound. Treaties and international agreements contain clauses that delineate how a contracting party can withdraw from its participation. When a contracting party decides to withdraw from a treaty (and this happens with some regularity) it notifies the other parties to the treaty according to the terms laid down in the original agreement.

Treaties and international agreements can be drafted to cover many different areas of law. Most bilateral and multilateral treaties are deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations. The SG’s office maintains a list of such agreements and indicates where the full text of the agreements may be found.

Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General.

Law Library JX 1977 .A2 ST/LEG/SER E./[vol.]

The United Nations Treaty Series provides full text of multilateral treaties indexed by the title above.

United Nations Treaty Series.

Law Library KZ 172 .T74

Formal practice of the United Nations is available in Yearbook of the United Nations.

Law Library JX 1977 .A37 Y4 [v.][year]. This publication gives updates on the activities of various U.N. agencies and reports of the organization’s activities.

Agreements that do not rise to the level of a treaty (such as a cultural exchange agreement) can be difficult to find because they are often not indexed. To get copies of the full text of such agreements it is usually best to contact the Embassy of one of the contracting states or the appropriate Country Desk of the U. S. Department of State. Current phone numbers for Country Desks are available in the Federal Yellow Book (Law Library Reference JK6 .F45).

Various compilations of the full text of treaties are available.

The Consolidated Treaty Series, 1648-1920 (compiled by Clive Parry).

Law Library  KZ 120 .P35 1969-81 v. []

            This set consists of important European treaties and agreements. It begins with the Treaty of Westphalia (which ended the Thirty Years’ War) and ends with the Versailles Treaty (which ended the First World War).

Indexed by Index-Guide to Treaties. Law Library KZ 120 .P35 1969-81 INDEX PT. [] V. [].

Nations often compile their current and/or historical treaties. U. S. Treaties, full text can be found in

United States Treaties (commonly abbreviated U.S.T.)

Law Library S9.12:18/[pt.]

Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949.

Law Library S 9.12/2:13.

            Often referred to as “Bevans”.

Treaties that are currently the law of the United States are referred to as being in force.

The official index to U.S. Treaties in force is

Treaties in Force.

Law Library S 9.14:

            Annual. Updated as of January 1 of each year for the previous year.

U.S. treaties first appear separately published as “slip treaties”, then are cumulated into a volume of T.I.A.S..  Slip treaties are indexed by

Current Treaty Index.

Law Library S 9.12:GUIDE 1993 Pt. []

Unpublished and unnumbered treaties index.

Law Library S 9.12:Unpub.

This publication lists treaties that are otherwise unavailable, often because the Senate has not yet voted to ratify them. It can be fairly difficult to obtain copies of unratified treaties. Some places to look are:

• International Legal Materials (often referred to as “ILM”).

Law Library KZ64 .I58

            LEXIS

• Senate Documents and Prints prepared for the use of Senators considering ratification of a particular treaty. Check the CIS Indexes for appropriate documents. Note also that all documents will be Senate documents (since the Senate must advise and consent to any U. S. treaty). Note also that the signature of the President or the appropriate designee on a treaty binds the U. S. in international law but not in domestic law. The advice and consent of the Senate is required to make the treaty part of the domestic law of the U.S.

The CIS Abstracts and Indexes are available on the 4^th floor of the Law Library.

For samples of documents published as part of a Senate consideration of a treaty see for example

• The Proposed Panama Canal Treaties: A Digest of Information

Law Library Y4.J 89/2:P19/3

• Panama Canal Treaties [United States Senate Debate]

Law Library Y4.J 89/2:P19/5/977-78/pt. 1

• The Panama Canal Treaty and the Congressional Power to Dispose of U. S. Property

Law Library Y4.J89/2:P19/4

• Panama Canal Treaty (Disposition of U. S. Territory): Hearings

Law Library Y4.J 89/2:P19/2pts.1-2

CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW

In some cases customary international law is codified and thus becomes part of written international law (above).  An example of customary international law that has been codified is the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which was opened for signature in 1969 and entered into force in 1980. The Vienna Convention lays forth the law underlying the interpretation of treaties and international agreements.

Customary international law, if it is not codified and does not become part of a treaty or other international agreement, is often expressed in the decisions of various international tribunals.

The United States pioneered the publication of a “digest” of international law, a formal statement of the nation’s international law practice and interpretation. The current series Digest of United States Practice in International Law is available at Law Library S7.12/3:980.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LAW ACCEPTED AS NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

In some cases neither customary international law nor international agreements speaks to a particular situation. In that case, the parties may invoke generally accepted principles of  national law and attempt to apply them to the situation at hand.

OTHER SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

International tribunals may also look to two other sources for guidance on what constitutes international law. One source is the writings of learned individuals on the law of nations and the other is the case law developed by various international tribunals.

Learned treatises are available on many international law issues. You can locate them by searching the online catalog of an academic law library or FIRSTSEARCH. Case law is available in the published reports of international tribunals like

International Law Reports

Law Library KZ 199 .K58

The International Court of Justice, the successor tribunal to the Permanent Court of International Justice, publishes its opinions and supplementary documents in the Recueil des arrệts…/Reports of judgments…

Law Library JX 1971.6 .A615 1995

The I.C.J. Yearbook provides an update of the Court’s activities.

Law Library JX 1971.6 .A25 [year]

RESEARCH AND REFERENCE SOURCES

Abbreviations and citations

            Black’s Law Dictionary, Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Citations, and the World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations are all helpful for deciphering abbreviations used in international legal citations.

Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations. 5^th ed.

Law Library KF 246 .B5 2001

Black’s Law Dictionary. 7^th ed..

Law Library KF 156 .B53 1999

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. 17^th ed.

Law Library KF 245 .B58 17^th ed. 2000

World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations

Law Library K85 .W67 v.[]