Useful Research Guides
Australia. Dept. of Foreign Affairs & Trade Australia's Treaty-Making Process
Law Library of Congress Guide to Law Online: Treaties
United Nations Library UN Treaty Research Guide
United Nations League of Nations Archive Resource Guide
Treaties
What is a treaty?
"An international agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law ... Treaties, whether general or particular, establish rules recognised by states and as such are a primary source of international law ... Also known as 'agreement', 'arrangement', 'covenant', 'convention', 'declaration', 'exchange of letters', exchange of notes', 'Final Act', 'General Act', 'modus vivendi', 'protocol' or 'statute'."
Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary (online 19 February 2019) 'treaty'.
What is treaty law?
"A body of rules in international law that deals with procedural and substantive aspects of treaties as a source of international law. Treaty law regulates the creation, operation, interpretation, suspension and termination of treaties between international persons."
Encyclopaedic Australian Legal Dictionary (online at 19 February 2019) 'treaty law'.
An introduction to treaties:
View the Non-U.S. Treaties Tutorial from the Georgetown Law Library for an excellent introduction to what treaties are, how they work, and where to find them (7 mins 36 sec, last updated May 2018).
Australia's treaty making process
"Under the Australian Constitution, treaty making is the responsibility of the Executive; the Parliament has no formal role in treaty making ... As a result, all treaty actions are now tabled in Parliament, with a National Interest Analysis, for Parliamentary consideration. There is a Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in the Commonwealth Parliament, and a Commonwealth-State Treaties Council."
'Chapter 4b: Treaty Making Process in Australia', Hot Topics 85: Human Rights (Web Page, 19 February 2019) <https://legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/hot-topics-85-human-rights/treaty-making-process-australia>.
The process for Australia to become a party to a treaty is:
1. Signature: agreement in principle (not legally binding).
2. Ratification: a binding agreement that the treaty will be implemented.
3. Accession/Implementation: Parliament implements the agreement through an Act. For example, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) implements the Convention on All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The text of the Convention is located in the Schedule to the Act. Where existing Australian law already covers the subject matter of the treaty, it does not have to be implemented through a separate Act.
For further information see:
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Treaty Making Process (Web Page, 19 February 2019) <https://dfat.gov.au/international-relations/treaties/treaty-making-process/Pages/treaty-making-process.aspx>.
'Explainer: The Treaty Process in Australia', Rule of Law Institute of Australia (Web Page, 19 February 2019) <https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/treaty-explainer/>.
Important treaties to which Australia is a party
These treaties have been cited according to AGLC4 chapter 8.
CAT: Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, opened for signature 10 December 1984, 1465 UNTS 85 (entered into force 26 June 1987).
CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, opened for signature 18 December 1979, 1249 UNTS 13 (entered into force 3 September 1981).
CERD: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, opened for signature 21 December 1965, 660 UNTS 195 (entered into force 4 January 1969).
CISG: United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, opened for signature 11 April 1980, 1489 UNTS 3 (entered into force 1 January 1988).
CRC: Convention on the Rights of the Child, opened for signature 20 November 1989, 1577 UNTS 3 (entered into force 2 September 1980).
CRPD: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, opened for signature 30 March 2007, A/RES/61/106 (entered into force 3 May 2008).
ICCPR: International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976).
ICESR: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 January 1976).
Vienna Convention: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, opened for signature 23 May 1969, 1153 UNTS 331 (entered into force 27 January 1980).
Finding treaties
The ATS (Australian Treaty Series) can be found on AustLII.
It also contains Australian treaties not yet in force, reports of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, Australian Treaty National Interest Analyses and status lists for multilateral treaties.
Australian treaties can also be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Treaties Database.
International treaty databases:
- EISIL (Electronic System for International Law)
- League of Nations Treaty Collection
- United Nations Treaty Collection
- WorldLII International Treaties Collection
A useful collection of treaties in print is Malcolm D Evans (ed), Blackstone's International Law Documents (Oxford University Press, 13th ed, 2017).
Research guides:
- American Society of International Law, Electronic Resource Guide
- Globalex, Update: An Introduction to Sources on Treaty Research
- Law Library of Congress, Guide to Law Online: Treaties
- United Nations Library UN Treaty Research Guide
- United Nations League of Nations Archive Resource Guide
- University of Melbourne, Public International Law: Treaties
Citing treaties
Treaties are cited according to chapter 8 of the AGLC4. Citing treaties describes the components of treaty citation.
Rule 8.3 Date Opened for Signature or Signed and Date of Entry into Force:
Note: Where a treaty is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, the date of adoption is generally the date of conclusion.
The date a current treaty was opened for signature can be found on the United Nations Treaty Collection. Select Depositary and locate the treaty using a Title Search.
Rule 8.4 Treaty Series lists the order of preference for citation of treaty series:
- the United Nations Treaty Series ('UNTS') or the League of Nations Treaty Series ('LNTS')
- an official treaty series of a state party; or
- another international or regional treaty series
Chapter 9 is not used for treaties, but for documents of the United Nations, such as the Charter of the United Nations and official UN documents. Rule 9.6 provides a table of Commonly Cited Documents to serve as a citation guide.
[AGLC4 rule 9.2.4 example] Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res 217A (III), UN GAOR, UN Doc A/810 (10 December 1948).
Useful texts
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The Oxford Guide to Treaties by ISBN: 9780192587749Publication Date: 2020This guide is an authoritative reference point for anyone interested in the creation or interpretation of treaties and other forms of international agreement. It covers the rules and practices surrounding their making, interpretation, and operation, and uses hundreds of real examples to illustrate different approaches treaty-makers can take. -
The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties by Publication Date: 2019The United Nations is a vital part of the international order. Yet this book argues that the greatest contribution of the UN is not what it has achieved (improvements in health and economic development, for example) or avoided (global war, say, or the use of weapons of mass destruction). It is, instead, the process through which the UN has transformed the structure of international law to expand the range and depth of subjects covered by treaties. This handbook offers the first sustained analysis of the UN as a forum in which and an institution through which treaties are negotiated and implemented. Chapters are written by authors from different fields, including academics and practitioners; lawyers and specialists from other social sciences (international relations, history, and science); professionals with an established reputation in the field; younger researchers and diplomats involved in the negotiation of multilateral treaties; and scholars with a broader view on the issues involved. The volume thus provides unique insights into UN treaty-making. Through the thematic and technical parts, it also offers a lens through which to view challenges lying ahead and the possibilities and limitations of this understudied aspect of international law and relations. -
Research Handbook on the Law of Treaties by Publication Date: 2014Offering a unique conceptual approach to the Law of Treaties this insightful Research Handbook not only sets out the foundational issues, but identifies tensions within the field, including formalism vs flexibility, integrity vs flexibility, and uniformity vs specialisation, to name a few. It seeks to define and re-define the dimensions in which Treaty law operates, tracing its fault-lines and the challenges it faces, such as breaches, regime-collisions, state succession and armed conflict. Representing a broad range of jurisdictional and ideological perspectives, the Research Handbook provides a diverse and stimulating approach to international treaties.
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Principles of international law by Publication Date: 2019Principles of International Law explains and illustrates the essential concepts of international law from an Australian perspective. It provides an authoritative yet accessible guide to the structure of international law, its systemic requirements and major substantive topics. Each chapter contains a clear statement of objectives, a list of key instruments and authorities, a lucid statement of the law, original analysis, extracts from relevant treaties and other international instruments, and helpful case summaries and extracts.
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The Oxford handbook of comparative foreign relations law by Publication Date: 2019Comparative foreign relations law compares and contrasts how nations, and also supranational entities such as the European Union, structure their decisions about matters such as entering into and exiting from international agreements, engaging with international institutions, and using military force, as well as how they incorporate treaties and customary international law into their domestic legal systems.
International law blog sites
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EJIL:Talk!
A blog of the European Journal of International Law. -
Opinio Juris
Opinio Juris was the world’s first blog dedicated to informed discussion of international law by and among academics, practitioners and legal experts.