Cite Checker's Guide: Treaties

For treaties to which the U.S. is a party, Bluebook Rule 21.4(a) requires citation to one of the following if available, in order of preference: "U.S.T. (or Stat.); T.I.A.S. (or T.S., or E.A.S.); U.N.T.S.; Senate Treaty Documents or Senate Executive Documents; the Department of State Dispatch; Department of State Press Releases."

Most of these sources are available via HeinOnline's World Treaty Library.

For treaties to which U.S. is not a party,  Bluebook Rule 21.4(b) requires citation to a "source published by an international organization [if available]... [including] U.N.T.S., L.N.T.S., O.A.S.T.S., Pan-Am. T.S., O.J., E.T.S., or C.E.T.S." The Bluebook does not indicate that these are the only acceptable sources published by international organizations, so this is a non-exhaustive list of official international treaty sources. HeinOnline's World Treaty Library includes some other sources published by international organizations not specifically named in the Bluebook.

If a treaty is not available in one of these publications (or a similar publication from an international organization), Rule 21.4(b) requires citation to "the official source of one signatory:"

• Bluebook Table 2 lists official treaty publications for some (but not all) jurisdictions. The Greenbook is a series in the library's reference collection that indicates official treaty publications for most countries. Alternatively, NYU's Guide to Foreign and International Legal Citations indicates some official treaty publications not mentioned in the Bluebook, but its coverage is less comprehensive than the Greenbook. Country-specific research guides also sometimes indicate official treaty publications.
• Once you've determined the name of the official publication, the next step is to search it for your treaty of interest. Try searching Google and the library catalog for the official publication, consult a country-specific research guide, or ask a librarian for help.

If a treaty is not published in any of the above sources, Bluebook Rule 21.4(c) requires citation to International Legal Materials (I.L.M.), an unofficial treaty publication. If a treaty isn't available in I.LM., Rule 21.4(c) allows citation to "another unofficial treaty source... [including] websites of governments and intergovernmental organizations, electronic databases, and sources such as the Foreign Relations of the United States series, Parry’s Consolidated Treaty Series, Hein’s microfiche treaty service, and Martens Nouveau Recueil."

Some of the unofficial sources mentioned in the Bluebook are obscure or difficult to search. Usually the easiest to find unofficial treaty sources are the websites of governmental or intergovernmental organizations, which typically appear when you google the name of a treaty. HeinOnline's World Treaty Library also features a variety of official and unofficial sources, including several sources specficially named in the Bluebook.