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Researching Treaties and International Agreements
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Once a researcher has located the text of the agreement, the status of the document must be determined. This includes determining the parties of a multilateral agreement, entry into force date, and locating any amendments to the original agreement. Since status information is ever changing, locating current status of treaties and agreements has always been a challenging task for the researcher. Keep in mind that unratified treaties do not die at the end of the Congressional session, therefore, it is often important to determine where a treaty is in the ratification process. Treaties in Force (see previous section). A Guide to the United States Treaties in Force (see previous section). CCH Congressional Index (see previous section). Current Treaty Index (see previous section). U.S. Senate Web site, Treaties , provides the following information: a list of treaties received from the President, treaties reported on the Executive Calendar, treaties approved by the Senate, and listings of other recent treaty status actions, including treaties that were rejected by the Senate or withdrawn by the President, during the current Congress. There is also a link to Thomas and to information about the Senate's treaty making power. Shepard's United States Citations (Colorado Springs: Shepard's/McGraw Hill, 1996-) [East Reading Room KF101.2 .S54]. Pre-1950 treaties are listed by Statutes at Large number and after 1950 they are listed by UST or TIAS number. Provides to treaties that amend earlier treaties. While U.S. Citations is available on LEXIS, you cannot shepardize treaties online. The State Dept. used to issue a weekly newsletter called Dispatch. It contained a section called “Treaty Actions” which included current information on bilateral and multilateral treaties. This publication ceased in print in 1999 and the monthly Current Treaty Actions information is now available only on the Web (although this information is not always issued monthly). Older editions of the Dispatch are available on the State Dept.’s Web site or on LEXIS (INTLAW; DSTATE) and WESTLAW (USDPTSTDIS). If looking for status and ratification information for multilateral treaties, many treaty secretariats and collections are available on the Web. See the sections on multilateral treaties for more information. If all else fails, call the Department of State's Office of Treaty Affairs at (202) 647-1345 for up-to-date treaty information. 
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