Digests / Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Research Guides & Bibliographies
a. United States Treaties and international agreements usually are published in the following forms:
1. Press releases of the State Department, issued on the date of the signing. 1929-1939.
2. United States. Congress. Senate. Executive [Documents]. Through the 96th Congress (1979-80) they contain the texts of treaties submitted to the Senate for ratification, but usually are not publicly available until the injunction of secrecy has been removed. Library has 1977-1980. This publication is no longer being published in print.
3. Senate, House & Treaty Documents. Beginning with the 104th Congress this online resource supersedes the Senate Executive Documents and contains the texts of treaties to which the United States is a party.
4. Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) 1946- . First widely disseminated official version of treaties and agreements which have entered into force; in pamphlet form; similar to slip laws. There is a several year time lag between the entry into force of a treaty and its publication in the TIAS. These are kept until replaced by a bound volume.
5. United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST). Published by the Department of State since 1950, this is the United States permanent official treaty series that culminates and replaces the TIAS. Texts of agreements are published both in English and any other official language. Arranged in consecutive TIAS order, each volume has an index by subject and country. There is a many year time lag between the entry into force of a treaty and its publication.
A commercially published index to United States treaties is Kavass, United States Treaty Index: 1776-2000 Consolidatio that is updated and kept current by new consolidations and supplements.
6. Hein's United States Treaties and Other International Agreements--Current Microfiche Service 1991- Index edited by Kavass. This service is intended to provide the full text of current, unreleased treaties and international agreements.
7. International Legal Materials published bi-monthly by the American Society of International Law is a collection of current official foreign and U.S. documents relating to international legal affairs. Documents include current materials that may not become available in more permanent collections until a later date and also recent treaties or drafts that are not readily accessible in any other form.
8. U.S. Treaties documents at Congress.gov. Treaty documents are available on Congress.gov for all treaties submitted to the Senate since the 94th Congress (1975-1976). Treaties submitted prior to the 94th Congress are included if they were pending in 1975.
9. For most retrospective purposes, you can use Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949, edited by C. E. Bevans. It includes the English text of all treaties and agreements which were published in Statutes at Large between 1776-1949 and is divided as follows: Volumes 1-4, multilateral conventions arranged chronologically; Volumes 5-12, bilateral agreements arranged alphabetically by country; Volume 13, general index.
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