International Legal Research

1. International Legal Research Advanced Legal Research

2. International Law: Categories of Sources • International Conventions – Treaties • Customary International Law – rules arise out of the general and consistent practice of states acting out of a sense of legal obligation • General Principles of Law – principles common to the major legal systems (due process in admin of justice, time as a bar to a claim, etc.) • In certain circumstances: • Judicial Decisions of tribunals or International Courts • Writings of International Law Scholars

3. What Is International Law Not? • Not Foreign Law • Laws of other countries • Not Comparative Law • Comparison of legal systems of two or more countries

4. What Is International Law? • Public International Law • Relationship between two or more countries • Private International Law • Relationships between private parties • Applies domestic law • Conflicts of law principles • Sometimes called transnational law

5. International Legal Research Tips • Use Secondary Sources • Treatises, Nutshells • Journals, Encyclopedias • Use Traditional Research Aids • Legal Research Text that covers Int’l law • Dictionaries • Bluebook for Citation • Start small - find the treaty and work from there.

6. Treaties • Also called • Conventions • Agreements • Pacts • Covenants • Charters • Protocols • Memoranda of agreement/understanding

7. Treaty Terms • Making Treaties • Signature and Ratification • Accession (for definition see Glossary in the UN Treaty Handbook) • U.S. Const. art. II, § 2: President has the power “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur” • Reservations, declarations, understandings, clarifications, etc.

8. Treaty Sources • The United States Is a Party • United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (U.S.T.) • Treaties and Other International Acts Series (T.I.A.S.) • Senate Treaty Documents (S. Treaty Doc.) • Department of State Bulletin (Dep’t St. Bull.) • Dep’t St. Press Releases

9. Treaty Sources • The United States Is a Party, older • Statutes at Large (Stat.) • Treaty Series (T.S.) • Executive Agreement Series (E.A.S.) • Senate Executive Documents (S. Exec. Doc.)

10. Treaty Sources • The United States Is Not a Party • United Nations Treaty Series (U.N.T.S.) • League of Nations Treaty Series (L.N.T.S.) • Pan-American Treaty Series (Pan-Am. T.S.) • European Treaty Series (Europ. T.S.)

11. Treaty Sources • Unofficial/Commercial Treaty Sources • International Legal Materials (I.L.M.) • Hein’s United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (Hein’s No. KAV) • Parry’s Consolidated Treaty Series (Consol. T.S.) • Bevans • books and periodicals

12. Treaty Indexes • Is the United States a Party? • Yes – Then use Treaties in Forces: A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States in Force on January 1, …. • No – Then start with Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General.

13. Great starting place to find Treaties and other Docs. • International Legal Materials • Recent treaties • Significant judicial decisions and documents • Domestic legislation and regulations • General policy statements concerning international affairs • Frequently the first place to publish such info. • Often the only place to find things in English

14. International Judicial Opinions • International Court of Justice • Court of Justice of the European Communities • European Court of Human Rights • Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

15. Other helpful International Law Materials • United Nations documents • Yearbooks • Topical Sets • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals • Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest • Foreign Law : Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World