Principles of Legal Research (4th ed. 2025)

Chapter 17. International Law

§ 17.2  U.S. Practice in International Law

(a) Treaties and Executive Agreements

• Stephen P. Mulligan, Congressional Research Service, RL32528, International Law and Agreements: Their Effect upon U.S. Law [page 365, note 6]
• United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST) [page 366]
• Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) [page 367]
• Finding Agreements (Department of State) [page 367]
• Treaties in Force [page 368]
• Trade Agreements (USTR) [page 368, note 9]
• Tax Treaties (IRS) [page 368, note 9]
• Congress.gov [page 370]
• Treaties (Senate Foreign Relations Committee) [page 370]

(b) Foreign Relations Documents

• Digest of United States Practice in International Law [page 370]
• Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law [page 371]
• Foreign Relations of the United States (Department of State) [page 371]
• Researching Customary International Law, State Practice and the Pronouncements of States Regarding International Law [page 371, note 15]
  • Permalink: https://perma.cc/S9UC-S6MU (Mar./Apr. 2024)

§ 17.3  General Treaty Research

• United Nations Treaty Collection [page 371]
• Oxford Historical Treaties [page 372]
• OAU/AU Treaties, Conventions, Protocols & Charters [page 372]
• Council of Europe Treaty Office [page 372]
• OAS Multilateral Treaties & Bilateral Agreements [page 372]
• Hague Conference on Private International Law [page 372]
• United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law [page 374]
• Human Rights Library (University of Minnesota) [page 374]
• Frequently-Cited Treaties & Other International Instruments (University of Minnesota) [page 374]
• ICRC Treaties, States Parties, and Commentaries (Geneva Conventions) [page 374]
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) [page 374]
• Flare Index to Treaties [page 375]
• Collected Travaux Préparatoires (Yale University) [page 376]
• UN Human Rights Treaties: Travaux Préparatoires (University of Virginia) [page 376]
• À la Recherche des Travaux Préparatoires: An Approach to Researching the Drafting History of International Agreements [page 376, note 19]
  • Permalink: https://perma.cc/EC2Y-SBBV (Jan./Feb. 2021)

§ 17.4  Cases and Arbitrations

(a) International Court of Justice

• International Court of Justice [page 377]

(b) Other Courts

• International Courts & Tribunals Collection (WorldLII) [page 377]
• International Criminal Court [page 379]
• Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone [page 379]
• Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [page 379]
• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea [page 379]
• International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals [page 379, note 23]
• Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression [page 379, note 25]
• Court of Justice of the European Union [page 380]
• European Court of Human Rights [page 380]
• Courts and Monitoring Bodies (IJRC) [page 380, note 27]
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights [page 381]
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights [page 381]
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights Project (Loyola Law School) [page 381]
• African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights [page 381]
• African Human Rights Case Law Analyser [page 381]
• ACtHPR Monitor [page 381]
• International Crimes Database [page 381]
• UNILEX [page 381]
• Institute of International Commercial Law (Pace University) [page 381]
• Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts (CLOUT) [page 381]
• ECOLEX [page 381-82]
• Refworld [page 382]

(c) Arbitrations

• Reports of International Arbitral Awards (RIAA) [page 382]

§ 17.5  International Organizations

• Non-Governmental Organizations (University of Michigan) [page 383, note 34]

(a) United Nations and Related Agencies

• United Nations [page 383]
• New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs [page 383]
• Yearbook of the United Nations [page 383]
• U.N. Digital Library [page 384]
• U.N. Official Document System [page 384]
• Dag Hammarskjöld Library [page 384]
• U.N. System [page 384]
• Yearbook of the International Law Commission [page 384, note 37]
• Juridical Yearbook (U.N.) [page 384, note 37]
• UNCITRAL Yearbook [page 384, note 37]

(b) World Trade Organization

• World Trade Organization [page 384]
• WorldTradeLaw.net [page 385]
• GATT Digital Library: 1947-1994 [page 385, note 38]
• WTO GATT Documents [page 385, note 38]
• Cathleen D. Cimino-Isaacs & Rachel R. Fefer, Congressional Research Service, R45417, World Trade Organization: Overview and Future Direction [page 385, note 39]

(c) European Union and Other Regional Organizations

• European Union [page 385]
• EUR-Lex [page 386]
• African Union [page 386]
• Council of Europe [page 386]
• Organization of American States [page 386]
• Understanding European Union Legal Materials: An Infrequent User’s Guide [page 386, note 43]
  • Permalink: https://perma.cc/U22F-PSZT (July/Aug. 2021)

§ 17.6  Sources for Further Information

• GlobaLex [page 387]