Treaty

a binding formal agreement, contract, or other written instrument that establishes obligations between two or more subjects of international law (primarily states and international organizations).

There are 2 types of treaties.

1. Bilateral treaties are agreements made by two countries.
2. Multilateral treaties are agreements made by 3+ countries.

There are 2 types of international treaties.

1. lawmaking treaties set up rules in international law.
       ex. the Law of the Sea treaty, the Antarctic Treaty, or the Chemical Weapons Convention

2. contractual treaties insure a promise or an agreement of a certain agree to a deal or objective.
      ex. World Trade Organization treaties regarding export/import of goods and services

The Multilaterals Project archive collection of texts of almost 200 multilateral agreements,(Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University)

Congress.gov provides the text of treaties from the 90th Congress forward.

U.S. Senate page for Locating Treaties

United Nations Treaty Collection includes Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General and the United Nations Treaty Series.

The Treaty Actions page

Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State

• is a record of actions taken by states in regard to international agreements, and provides information about treaties to which the U.S. is a party, BUT it is not always current
• The Office of the Legal Adviser also maintains a list of multilateral treaties for which the U.S. is depositary (status updated by the Office of Treaty Affairs)

Congress.gov provides information on the status of treaties

• Select a Congress to see the treaty documents received, considered, or pending.

For United Nations treaties

• the latest developments can be found in Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General which is updated weekly.