Public International Law

1. Public International Law Finding Multilateral and Foreign Treaties

2. Public International Law – Secondary Sources • Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Law [access electronically through our catalog—do a title search for Max Planck] • Upon its completion, the MPEPIL will be an updated, comprehensive work covering the central and essential topics in international law. • Currently contains about half the total articles online, but entire collection available in print version: KZ1160 .E592

3. Citations to relevant case law Citations to relevant treaties

4. Example #1 • Locate an entry in Max Planck on collisions at sea. • Which Fordham Law professor is cited in that entry’s bibliography? • Do we have a copy of his book in our collection?

5. International Legal Materials • Published by the American Society of International Law, provides the basic, primary documents of research and analysis in int’l law • Materials are selected for their usefulness to scholars, practitioners and business and government officials, both in the United States and abroad. • Each issue contains the full texts of important treaties and agreements, judicial and arbitral decisions, national legislation, international organizations resolutions and other documents. • ILM is the preferred unofficial cite for treaties to which the US is a party (BB rule 21.4.5(c))

6. International Legal Materials • No searchable index—best option is to use Westlaw (but WL’s coverage only goes back to 1980) • Indexes for each issue since 1999: http://www.asil.org/ilmindx.cfm • Available in full text on Hein, JSTOR also has almost complete run

7. Treaty Research recap • Does a treaty exist on the topic? • Find the text of the treaty • Who are the parties (bilateral or multilateral) and what is the treaty’s effective date? • Any reservations, understandings, declarations, or other conditions made by relevant parties? • Any subsequent modification to the treaty (amendments or protocols)?

8. Multilateral Treaty Research • STEP 1: Does a treaty exist on the topic? • No truly comprehensive, current index to UNTS—use MTDSG database • Try the FLARE Index to Treaties • http://193.62.18.232/dbtw-wpd/textbase/treatysearch.htm • EISIL—allows you to browse by topic • http://www.eisil.org/index.php • Some options for historical research • Multilateral Treaty Calendar (1648-1995) • Bowman & Harris, Multilateral Treaties: Index and Current Status (1856-1994) • World Treaty Index (to 1980)

9. Various official cites Locations of authentic souces online

11. Example #2 • Using the Flare Index to Treaties (just Google it to get URL), locate a copy of The Brussels Treaty for collaboration in economic, social and cultural matters

12. Multilateral Treaty Research • STEP 2: Find the text of the treaty • UN Treaty Collection • International Legal Materials • American Society of International Law’s EISIL page: http://www.eisil.org/ • Avalon Project: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ • Tufts Multilateral Project: http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals/ • Subject compilations: keyword searches such as double taxation and treaties • Websites of governmental and non-governmental organizations

13. United Nations Treaty Collection • Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations: • "Every treaty and every international agreement entered into by any Member of the United Nations after the present Charter comes into force shall as soon as possible be registered with the Secretariat and published by it."

14. United Nations Treaty Collection • http://treaties.un.org • Includes the following: • Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General (MTDSG) • United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) • League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS) • Texts of Recently Deposited Treaties • Monthly Statements of Treaties and International Agreements

15. Start here Helpful guides if you want to learn more

16. Try to avoid full text searching since their database is pretty bad; if you must, search for the title in the INDEX, don’t “Full-text Search” If possible, browse collection and drill down to your desired treaty by subject matter

18. Note that the MTDSG DOES NOT PROVIDE FULL TEXT OF TREATY—however, you can get the citation to the UNTS here and pull it up on Hein…or try to use one of the links from FLARE or EISIL

20. Original, authentic PDF copy of the UNTS exactly how it appears in print

21. Multilateral Treaty Research • STEP 3: Who are the parties (bilateral or multilateral) and what is the treaty’s effective date? • This is the most important step in multilateral treaty research—determining the status of the treaty • Just because a party has signed the treaty does not mean it has ratified it; also important to note what type of ratification it has • Again, use MTDSG for this

22. This is the same page from Slide 18—just scroll down—and shows all the countries who have both Signed (first column) and Ratified (second column). From this list you can see that while Bhutan originally signed the treaty, it is NOT in force there because they never ratified it

23. Multilateral Treaty Research • Types of status: • Ratification • Accession (a) • Acceptance (A) • Approval (AA) • Formal confirmation (c) • Succession (d)

24. Multilateral Treaty Research • STEP 4: Any reservations, understandings, declarations, or other conditions made by relevant parties? • Always located on the bottom of the MTDSG page; countries with reservations are hyperlinked and will “jump” directly to relevant statement when you click on it

25. To view Bulgaria’s objections, reservations, etc., simply click on the hyperlink and it will bring you directly to the relevant section

26. Here Bulgaria spells out which portions of the treaty it has a problem with and then explains the legal basis behind the problem. Many times these objections, etc. are a result of a conflict of national legislation or policy, and sometimes can be politically oriented (i.e., Libya saying it’s not going to recognize a claim from the US)

27. Multilateral Treaty Research • STEP 5: Any subsequent modification to the treaty? • With multilateral treaties, generally called a protocol or amendment; listed separately from the main treaty text • Best way to find these are to go to the relevant “Chapter” of the MTDSG page and scan for amendments to treaty in question

28. I’m not kidding when I said the UN site is unreliable….

29. Multilateral Treaty Research • What is the status of the treaty? • Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General /call the U.N. treaty section • web sites and publications of other international organizations, e.g. OAS, Red Cross, Council of Europe • government web site (e.g. foreign ministry) • international law yearbooks • specialized periodicals, looseleafs on the topic • “Treaty and Agreements” section of ILM • US State Department website • Current Treaty Actions: http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/c3428.htm • Treaties Pending in the Senate: http://www.state.gov/s/l/treaty/pending/index.htm

30. Example #3 • Has North Korea ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child? • If so, when did they ratify it? • Did they have any reservations, understandings, declarations, or other conditions?

31. TravauxPréparatoires • Essentially the preparatory work of a treaty, as used as a means of interpretation. • “An omnibus expression which is used rather loosely to indicate all the documents, such as memoranda, minutes of conferences, and drafts of the treaty under negotiation, for the purpose of interpreting the treaty.”McNair, The Law of Treaties (1961) • Think of it as the “legislative history” of a treaty

32. Where to find TravauxPréparatoires • Key word search in online catalog/journal index: [name of treaty] andtravauxor preparatory or congress or history or negotiations or negotiating history, etc. • Treaty documents collected and published together by an international organization or researcher. • Treaty documents within the publications of an international organization. • IGO or conference website for recent treaties. • Yearbooks on international law.

34. Foreign Treaty Research • national treaty series: subject search [country]–foreign relations–treaty or keyword search [country] andtreaties • UNTS • World Treaty Index (through 1980) • ILM • yearbook or review of international law • legal periodicals • government web site (e.g. foreign ministry)

35. Foreign Treaty Research • Locations of selected foreign treaty info: • Canada: http://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/Index.aspx • Official reporter: Canada Treaty Series (CTS) • Mexico: http://portal3.sre.gob.mx/english/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=288&Itemid=6 • United Kingdom: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/treaties/search • Official reporter: United Kingdom Treaty Series (UKTS) • Council of Europe: http://conventions.coe.int/

36. Evidence of State Practice • Consult “Sources of State Practice in International Law”, KZ64 .S67 (stack 7) for information on foreign sources of customary law • Most major jurisdictions and regions have their own Yearbooks of International Law to help you locate customary law in those jurisdictions • Many are located in HeinOnline’s Foreign & International Law Resources Database