Need to find a treaty fast? Here you will find links to some of the best online tools, as well as a few print resources, for locating treaties by state party, by regional sponsoring organization or by subject matter.
Many of these tools offer multiple searching and/or browsing options, as well as links to the full texts of treaties. Some also provide information about the status of a treaty (date of entry into force, current list of state parties, etc.), and citations to official and unofficial treaty sources.
| U.S. Is a State Party | U.S. Treaties & Agreements Library (HeinOnline) Search across multiple treaty indexes by keyword, by title, by subject, and by many other criteria for U.S. treaties and agreements currently in force, for those no longer in force, and for those that have not yet entered into force. Most treaty records provide a direct link to the full text of the relevant treaty. Senate Treaty Documents (Congress.gov) The full texts of treaties submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification are published as Senate Treaty Documents (formerly known as Senate Executive Documents). Congress.gov provides online access to all Senate Treaty documents from 1975-present, as well as selected treaty documents from 1949-1974. Search by keyword or document number. Or use the filters on the left to browse by congress number or treaty topic. A good source for locating the texts of treaties that have not been ratified, ratified but not yet entered into force or entered into force but not yet published elsewhere. |
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| U.S. Is or Is NOT a State Party | World Treaty Library (HeinOnline) Search across multiple treaty indexes by keyword, by title, by country, by subject, and by many other criteria for multilateral and bilateral treaties, both current and historical. To limit your search to a particular index, highlight the name of the index in the list of available indexes below the search boxes. For many treaty records, a link to the full text of the treaty is provided. If the full text of a treaty is not available on HeinOnline, use the citation information in the record to help you locate the treaty in a full-text source. U.N. Treaty Series Online (U.N. Treaty Collection) This series encompasses more than 100,000 multilateral and bilateral treaties registered or recorded with the U.N. since 1946, including many treaties to which the U.S. is a party. Search filters include participant (country), title (in English or French), treaty type (multilateral or bilateral), registration number, and U.N.T.S. volume number, among many others. |
The following regional inter-governmental organizations provide access to treaties concluded among countries within their respective geographic regions.
| African Union | African Union Treaties, Conventions, Protocols & Charters Browse for multilateral treaties drafted under the auspices of the African Union and its predecessor, the Organization for African Unity, on a wide range of subjects, from human rights to trade and economic integration. |
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| Council of Europe | Council of Europe Treaties Access more than 200 multilateral treaties concluded under the auspices of the 47-member Council of Europe on a wide variety of topics ranging from human rights to wildlife conservation. |
| European Union | European Union Treaties (EUR-Lex) Current and prior versions of the internal treaties that govern the EU, plus accession treaties for the member states that joined the EU after its founding, are available on EUR-Lex. For external treaties between the EU and non-member states or entities, consult the separate EUR-Lex database of International Agreements, which may be searched by keyword or browsed by subject. |
| Organization of American States (OAS) | Inter-American Treaties Multilateral treaties concluded among countries in the Western Hemisphere on a wide range of topics from arbitration and dispute settlement to asylum and human rights, plus bilateral agreements between the OAS and individual states or entities. |
Many international and non-governmental organizations have assembled online collections of treaties that pertain to a particular subject or group of related subjects. Links to some of the best of these subject-specific online treaty collections, as well as a few print sources, are provided below.
| Armed Conflict & International Humanitarian Law | International Humanitarian Law Treaties (ICRC) This user-friendly database, maintained by the International Committee for the Red Cross, includes the Geneva Conventions and dozens of other treaties that govern the conduct of armed conflict. Search by keyword or browse by topic, country, and date. |
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| Environmental Matters | ECOLEX Treaties Access more than 2,000 treaties on subjects ranging from air pollution to wildlife conservation. Search by keyword and filter by subject, country, treaty type, status, and date. Conservation in Sustainable Development INTL K3585.4 I58 1995 This loose leaf service publishes the full texts of environmental treaties and other legal instruments. Updated regularly. |
| Human Rights | Human Rights Instruments This portal page provides access to the U.N.'s core human rights treaties and their optional protocols, as well as other universal human rights instruments drafted by the U.N. and its affiliated entities. Click on the name of an instrument to view the full text in your browser, to download the full text in PDF format, and to view current status and ratification information. |
| Intellectual Property | WIPO Treaties (World Intellectual Property Organization) Access 26 treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization governing the international recognition and protection of copyrights, patents, and trademarks. |
| International Investment (Foreign Direct Investment) | International Investment Agreements Navigator (UNCTAD) This database, maintained by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, includes more than 3,000 bilateral investment treaties and over 300 other treaties with investment protections. Use the menu on the left to browse for investment treaties by country. Investment Promotion and Protection Treaties INTL K1112.A49 I58 This loose leaf services reprints the full texts of bilateral investment treaties. Updated regularly. |
| International Trade & Commerce | UNCITRAL Texts Access the full texts of treaties (conventions) related to international commerce drafted by the U.N. Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), as well as current status information and drafting histories. World Trade Organization Legal Texts and Pre-WTO Legal Texts (WTO) The first collection includes the 1994 agreement establishing the World Trade Organization, subsequent multilateral trade agreements, and a glossary of trade-related terms. The second collection covers the period from 1947-1993 and includes the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT). |
| Labor & Employment | International Labor Standards Conventions (NORMLEX) The International Labour Organization's NORMLEX database includes the full texts of treaties, status updates and ratification information by country. |
| Private International Law | Conventions & Protocols (Hague Conference on Private International Law) Treaties pertaining to civil procedure, commercial law, family law, and the recognition of foreign judgments drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. UNIDROIT Instruments Treaties pertaining to international agency, franchising, leasing, sales, and the transport of goods drafted by the International Institute for the Unification of Private International Law (UNIDROIT). Use the menu on the left to select "Instruments." Then select the desired subject matter from the sub-menu. |