Researching Treaties

Black’s Law Dictionary defines a treaty as “an agreement formally signed, ratified, or adhered to between two countries or sovereigns; an international agreement concluded between two or more states in written form and governed by international law.” 

Treaty research can be a bit puzzling, but don’t fret! The Library has access to a plethora of resources that can help you research treaties. To start, you can check out the RWU Law Library’s International & Foreign Research LawGuide. This guide has a page dedicated to treaty sources, including both free and subscription sites you can access through the library as a student, such as HeinOnline’s U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library and World Treaty Library. The U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library contains all U.S. treaties, including those currently in-force, expired, or not-yet officially published and, according to HeinOnline, “is the world's largest and most complete online collection of U.S. treaties and agreements.” HeinOnline recently introduced their World Treaty Library which contains treaties from a variety of sources including the League of Nations, United States, and United Nations. 

If you don’t think treaties are cool, maybe Jimmy Fallon can change your mind.

If you need any research help, take some advice from Hermione Granger: “when in doubt, go to the library.” The librarians love to research and would be happy to help you along your research journey. They even have fun researching puzzling topics like international treaties. Don’t hesitate to stop by the reference desk, or contact us via Ask a Librarian. We are also available by email to LawLibraryHelp@rwu.edu, or by calling 401-254-4547.