1 The following table, compiled from data in the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization, 1959/60 to 1970/71, illustrates this spectacular growth. The unusual rise in 1970/71 in the number of depository multilateral treaties is explained in the latest report for 1970/71 (U.N. Doc. A/8401, at p. 239) by the fact that certain League of Nations treaties which had not been included in the previous reports have now been added.

Each annual report always names individually the multilateral treaties which have entered into force during the report year. It also lists the new multilateral treaties which have been drawn up and opened for signature since the last report.

2 The existing gap between the U.N. Treaty Series and the national treaty records has been established by the specialized investigations of Peter H. Rohn of the University of Washington. See his articles, “Canada in the United Nations Treaty Series,” 4 Canadian Yr. Bk. Int. Law 102–130 (1966); “Turkish Treaties in Global Perspective,” 6 Turkish Yr. Bk. Int. Law 119–160 (1965); and “The United Nations Treaty Series Project,” 12 International Studies Quarterly 174–195 (1968). It may be presumed that the gap also applies to the multilateral treaties concluded under the auspices of intergovernmental organizations, especially for the pre-1946 period, as well as to other multiparty treaties.

3 Harvard University, Law School Library, Index to Multilateral Treaties; a chronological list of multi-party international agreements from the sixteenth century through 1963, with citations to their text (Vaclav Mostecky, Editor; Francis R. Doyle, Asst. Editor. Cambridge, Mass., 1955. pp. x, 301), and its Supplements 1 through 3, covering treaties of 1964, 1965, and 1966. This highly valuable service has been dormant for a number of years. It is to be hoped that it can be revived in the near future.

4 Covey T. Oliver noted at the Hague Academy of International Law in 1955 that “treaty materials are increasing fantastically in volume, but recording, digesting, cross-referencing, and other research techniques remain underdeveloped, even in countries like the U.S.A., where municipal decisions and statutes are most effectively arranged for legal research purposes.” “Contemporary Problems of Treaty Law,” 88 Recueil des Cours 483–484 (1955, II); C. Wilfred Jenks observed in 1953 that “even the texts currently in force [of law-making treaties] are not conveniently available,” that “information concerning the present status of many instruments is inaccessible or unreliable,” and called for a “comprehensive edition of current law-making treaties kept regularly up-to-date, and a current register in accessible form indicating the extent to which they are in force.” “The Conflict of Law-Making Treaties,” 30 Brit. Yr. Bk. Int. Law 401–453 at 431 (1953); Clifford J. Hynning stated in 1955 that “there is no single source for finding all the treaties and international agreements of the United States. Nor is it possible to determine the present status and significance of a given treaty from any authoritative single source. Nor is there any ready and reliable means of finding court decisions involving treaties and agreements.” “Treaty Law for the Private Practitioner,” 23 U. of Chicago Law Rev. 67 (1955/56); Paul C. Szasz confirmed ten years later that “it is unduly difficult to determine, without intensive and often involved research, the various rules of international law that may bear upon a given point.” “How to Develop World Peace Through Law,” 52 ABA Journal 851–857 at 852 (1966); and, finally, in a background paper for a UNITAR panel of specialists, Sydney D. Bailey concluded that “the collection, classification, storage, and retrieval of information relating to international questions has until recently been a rather haphazard affair” and suggested that “research is needed. .. on new techniques for the collection of information, high-speed recording and classification methods, high-density storage, and the use of mechanical aids for rapid retrieval.” Peaceful Settlement of Disputes: Ideas and Proposals for Research 34–35 (New York: U.N. Institute for Training and Research, 1970). See also Adolf Sprudzs, Treaty Sources in Legal and Political Research: Tools, Techniques and Problems— The Conventional and the New 62–63 (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1971).

5 A brief description of the U.N. computer-assisted indexing project, the U.S. Department of Defense international agreements project, the Treaty Information Project, directed by Peter H. Rohn at the University of Washington, and the Queens University Treaty Project, directed by Hugh J. Lawford, is available in Sprudzs, op. cit. 49–61.

6 The latest edition is Fundstellennachweis B. Völkerrechtliche Vereinbarungen. Abgeschlossen am 31.12.1970. 3. Aufl. Hrsg. vom Bundesminister der Justiz. Bonn: Bundesanzeiger Verlags GmbH, 1971. 255 pp. (Beilage zum Bundesgesetzblatt, Teil II). The official German treaty collection, Verträge der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Serie A: Multilaterale Verträge. Hrsg. vom Auswärtigen Amt. (Bonn: Carl Heymanns Veflag, 1955– date), also includes two supplementary loose-leaf binders which provide status information for the multilateral treaties published in the series. They are, however, much less up to date than the Fundstellennachweis B.

7 U.S. Dept. of State, Office of the Legal Adviser, Treaties in Force: A List of Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States in Force on January 1 [year], is published annually by the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. Information on current developments is available in the weekly Dept. of State Bulletin, which regularly prints news on ratifications, accessions, entry into force, etc, of bilateral as well as multilateral treaties, provided by the Treaty Section. The listing of multilateral treaties in the annual Treaties in Force volume is arranged under general subject headings, followed by references to published texts, the names of states parties to each treaty and indications of subsequent modifications. Addition of a chronological index for both the bilateral and the multilateral treaty sections would be a welcome further improvement of this excellent and indispensable research aid.

8 Such as, for example, Nigeria’s Treaties in Force for the Period 1st October 1960 to 30th June 1968 (Lagos: Federal Ministry of Justice [1969], pp. 239).

9 E.g., List of the Treaties that the Republic of Korea Entered Into (1945–1968), 2 Korea Observer (Seoul) 120–148 (July, 1970). In the preface to his Liste des engagements bilatéraux au 30 juin 1969; accords et traités souscrits par la France at 7 (Paris: A. Pedone, 1970, pp. 206), Henri Rollet indicates that a similar list for multilateral treaties in force for France will also be published. It may also be mentioned here that general indexes to legislation, where such are published, usually provide information on treaties, e.g., Wegweiser durch Österreichs Bundesgesetzgebung 1945–1969. Zwanzigste Neuauflage der “Wegweiser”-Serie. Stand vom 1. September 1969. Bearb. von Dr. J. Hans von 1945 bis 31.7.1966 und von Dr. H. Neuhofer ab 1.8.1966 (Ried im Innkreis, Oberösterreichischer Landesverlag, 1969. pp. 175). For other recent examples of such guides to the treaties of individual countries, see Sprudzs, op. cit. 41.

10 An Index to British Treaties, 1101–1968, compiled and annotated under the auspices of the International Law Fund and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, by Clive Parry and Charity Hopkins (London: H.M.S.O., 1970. 3 vols.). The purpose of this index is mainly to serve as a complete consolidated index to the British Treaty Series, which up to now had annual indexes and consolidated indexes every four years but never had a complete index for the whole series, which began in 1892. The chronological part of the new Index provides the names of states parties to multilateral treaties with the relevant dates and references to amendments and sources of text for each individual treaty. The subject index permits the researcher to find the treaties in the chronological part, if the date is not known. The status information included is as of the end of 1968. For current treaty developments the British Treaty Series includes a Supplementary List of Ratifications, Accessions, Withdrawals, etc., of which now four issues are usually published every year, indicating the actions taken on multilateral and bilateral treaties, as reported to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. See, for example, for 1970, Treaty Series No. 47, Cmnd. 4404; No. 81, Cmnd. 4468; No. 109, Cmnd. 4570; and No. 110, Cmnd. 4670.

11 There is no up-to-date bibliography of treaty series available. The most recent one is the United Nations List of Treaty Collections (New York: U.N. Office of Legal Affairs, 1956, pp. xv, 174 (U.N. Doc. ST/LEG/5)), which was compiled and published as a simplified and updated version of the classic work of Denys P. Myers, Manual of Collections of Treaties and of Collections Relating to Treaties (New York: Burt Franklin [1966]. pp. xlvii, 685 (reprint of the 1922 London edition)). The two major worldwide reference works dealing with legal bibliography, now somewhat out of date, are: Konrad Stollreither’s Internationale Bibliographie der juristischen Nachschlagewerke (Frankfürt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1955. pp. xiii, 595) and UNESCO’s Catalogue des sources de documentation juridique dans le monde (2d ed. Paris: UNESCO, 1957. pp. 424). Information concerning the legal publications of the many newly independent states of the world is not so readily available and must usually be obtained from various scattered sources.

12 E.g., the Yearbook of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes an annual list of the bilateral and multilateral agreements in which the Kingdom of The Netherlands has participated during the past year; see, for example, one of the latest lists entitled “Overzicht van overeenkomsten aan welker totstandkoming in 1969 het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden heeft deelgenomen,” 1969/70 Jaarboek van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken 114–133; see also the annual listings prepared for Belgium by I. de Troyer, Director of the Treaty Section of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and for Greece by Constantin P. Economides, Director of the Legal Service of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the latest examples being, respectively, the “Liste des accords internationaux conclus par la Belgique en 1968,” établi par I. de Troyer, 6 Revue Beige de Droit Int. 734–748 (1970), and “Accords intemationaux approuvés par la Grèce et publiés au Journal officiel en 1969,” liste établi par Constantin P. Economides, 23 Revue Hellénique de Droit Int. 387–395 (1970). Such lists also appear regularly in a number of other periodicals; e.g., the Annuaire Français de Droit Int., Journal du Droit Int., Revue du Droit Public et de la Science Politique en France et à l’Éitranger, Jahrbuch für Int. Recht; Diritto Intemazionale, etc.

13 For example, “Overzicht van overeenkomsten inzake internationale luchtvaart waarbij het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden partij is,” 1969/70 Jaarboek van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken 104–116, presenting information on air transport treaties from the Dutch point of view; “Ubersicht iiber die zweiseitigen Luftverkehrsabkommen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland nach dem Stand vom 15. Oktober 1970,” 20 Zeitschrift für Luftrecht und Weltraumrechtsfragen 44–46 (1971), listing bilateral air law treaties for the Federal Republic of Germany; “Conventions en matière d’entr’aide répressive internationale, Circulaire du 30 novembre 1970 du Garde des sceaux, Ministre de la Justice, aux Procureurs généraux,” 95 Revue Pénitentiaire et de Droit Pénal 161–166 (1971), containing a list of international agreements binding France in the field of judicial assistance in criminal matters; or, “Navigation Treaties to which Canada is a Party—Treaties in Force Between Canada and Other States Dealing with Navigation Matters,” 7 Canadian Yr. Bk. Int. Law 321–322 (1969).

14 E.g., “Liste des conventions internationales du travail ratifiées par la France,” 46 Revue Crit. de Droit Int. Prive 134–137 (1957); the recently published French encyclopedia of international law, Répertoire de droit international, ed. by Ph. Francescakis (Paris: Dalloz, 1968–69, 2 vols.), can be consulted under “Organisation internationale du travail” for a more recent listing established from the point of view of France. This encyclopedia contains additional status information charts, pertaining to the bilateral and multilateral treaties of France, under the following subject entries: “Abordage maritime, Affrètement maritime, Arbitrage (droit international privé), Assistance et sauvetage maritime, Chèque, Effets de commerce, Enseignement, Entr’aide judiciaire (matiere penale), Extradition, Immunites (des diplomates et des consuls), Impots, Lègalisation (actes publics ètrangers), Navigation aérienne, Navire, Notification et signification des actes (matieres civiles et commerciales), Organisations européennes, Personne morale, Propriété industrielle, Propriété littéraire et artistique, Sécurité sociale, Transports aeriens, Transports maritimes, and Vente commerciale.” Status information on International Labor Conventions, as published by the International Labor Office itself, will be referred to later.

15 For example, Recueil Penant, Revue de Droit des Pays d’Afrique, regularly publishes an annual Panorama de la législation sur les conventions conclues par les éats africains d’expression franchise et par Madagascar, compiled by F. Buhl, the latest having appeared in 80 Recueil Penant 257–269 (1970). A similar list, entitled “Internationale Abkommen” appears regularly for the East European countries and the U.S.S.R. in WGO, Monatshefte für Osteuropaisch.es Recht; see, e.g., 12 WGO 30–44 (1970).

16 Status charts of this kind are scattered in many publications. The Committee on Foreign and International Law of the American Association of Law Libraries is attempting to gather data on such published charts showing the status of multilateral treaties. Some of the status charts mentioned in this article have been gathered by committee members under the auspices of this project, and therefore this writer would like to express his appreciation for assistance received to his Co-Chairman Igor I. Kavass, and Committee members Ludwik A. Teclaff, Thomas H. Reynolds, Anita K. Head, Takika Y. Lee, Anthony P. Grech, Liliane Levy, Jan Stepan, S. P. Khetarpal, and Guido Olivera. Several charts dealing with a particular subject field are listed below as examples of information that is available but not widely known. For the field of human rights, the Revue des Droits de l’Homme [Human Rights Journal] publishes a Chart Showing Ratifications of the International Conventions of Human Rights, the last one having appeared in its Vol. 3, pp. 357–367 (1970), and giving the status information as of April 1, 1970, on some 42 conventions; for the status of multilateral treaties dealing with copyright, designs, patents, and trademarks: Copyright (Geneva), Copyright Bulletin (UNESCO), Industrial Property (Geneva), and Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht, Int. Teil, carry comprehensive information charts at least once a year, some of the recent references being: “State of Ratifications of and Accessions to the Conventions and Agreements Affecting Copyright on July 1, 1970,” 6 Copyright 136–137 (1970); “State of the International Union on July 1, 1970,” 9 ibid. 120–122 (1970); “Universal Copyright Convention and Annexed Protocols. List of States Having Deposited an Instrument of Ratification, Acceptance or Accession,” 4 Copyright Bulletin (UNESCO) 3–11 (1970); “Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization as on January 1, 1971,” 10 Industrial Property (Geneva) (No. 1) 3–4 (1971); “Member Countries of the Industrial Property Unions as on January 1, 1971,” ibid. 13–22 (1971); “Conventions not administered by WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization], Contracting States on January 1, 1971,” ibid. 25–26 (1971); “Ubersicht über den Stand der internationalen

Verträge auf dem Gebiet des Urheberrechts am 1. Januar 1971,” 1971

Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht 266–267 (Int. Teil No. 5, May, 1971);

“Ubersicht über den Stand der internationalen Verträge auf dem Gebiet des gewerblichen Rechtsschutzes am 1. Januar 1971,” ibid. 268–271. Status charts concerning multilateral treaties pertaining to air transport and navigation have appeared in 19 Zeitschrift für Luftrecht und Weltraumrechtsfragen 265–280 (1970), 6 Rivista di Diritto Int. Privato e Processuale 193, 201 (1970), 7 II Diritto Aereo 69–72 (1968), and elsewhere; maritíme conventions have been covered in 70 II Diritto Marittimo 251–283 and 443–452 (1968), and in International Maritime Committee, Documentation, 1969, Vol. VI, pp. 88–113; space law in 1971 Le Droit de l’Espace 143–147; personal status conventions in 36 Zeitschrift für Zivilstandswesen 372–374 (1968), and in 6 Rivista di Diritto Int. Privato e Processuale 461–473 (1970).

17 E.g., the Hague Conventions on Private International Law are regularly covered by several periodicals and other publications. The Revue Crit. de Droit Int. Privé provides annually, in its first quarterly issue, status information on conventions prepared at the 7th (1951) and subsequent sessions, the latest reference at the time of writing being 60 Revue Crit. de Droit Int. Privé 153–157 (1971), while earlier conventions are covered in 56 Revue Critique de Droit Int. Privé 209–213 (1967), and in 2 Rivista di Diritto Int. Privato e Processuale 166–186 (1966); status charts on Hague conventions have also appeared in 14 Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Int. Recht 113–115 (1967); 1969/70 Jaarboek van het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken 94–103; 25 Annuaire Suisse de Droit Int. 361–364 (1968 pub. in 1970), and elsewhere. See also Kurt Nadelmann, “Status of Hague Conventions on Private International Law,” 19 A.J. Comp. Law 587–592 (1971).

18 For example, 1970 Revue de l’Arbitrage 186 gives the news of the ratification by the U.S. of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of June 10, 1958, and publishes a list of states which have ratified the convention as of Jan. 1, 1971.

19 Bulletin Usuel des Lois et Arrêtés (Brussels: Bruylant, 1851–date); Pasinomie, Collection Complète des Lois, Arrêtés et Reglements Qui Peuvent Etre Invoques en Belgique (Brussels: Bruylant, 1833–date).

20 Over the years the Bulletin Usuel des Lois and the Pasinomie, as well as similar private collections of laws published in other states, have provided the researcher with many status charts, taken from official sources. Indexes in each issue and the cumulative annual indexes provide for a quick and easy access to these sources of current information.

21 It consists of two volumes, Vol. 1 being published annually, subtitled List of Signatures, Ratifications, Accessions, etc. as at 31 December [year]), and Vol. 2 as a looseleaf service: Annex: Final Clauses. The publication also includes status information on selected League of Nations treaties for which the U.N. Secretariat performs depositary functions. The latest edition (U.N. Doc. ST/LEG/SER.D/4) brings the status information up to date as of Dec. 31, 1970. The major weakness of this otherwise very valuable research aid is the lack of chronological and subject indexes.

22 U.N. Doc. symbol ST/LEG/SER.A/290 (for the April, 1971, issue). There is no index.

23 See, for example, International Labor Office, Conventions and Recommendations Adopted by the International Labour Conference, 1919–1966 (Geneva: 1966. pp. xvi, 1176). More recent status data can be found in the International Labor Conference Report III (Part I), Summary of Reports on Ratified Conventions, which usually covers a period of two years, and the semi-annual official record of ratifications, International Labor Conventions, Chart of Ratifications, published by the ILO Geneva office. See also Agreements Registered with the International Atomic Energy Agency, 3d ed., up to Dec. 31, 1968 (Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency, 1969, pp. 91 (Legal Series No. 3)), which gives information as to the subject of the agreement, parties to it, date of signature and entry into force, as well as references to publications containing the text of agreement; ICAO Aeronautical Agreements and Arrangements Registered With the Organization, 1 January 1946–31 December 1964 (Montreal: International Civil Aviation Organization, 1965. pp. xv, 165 (Doc. 8473–LGB/215)), which includes a table of parties and has annual supplements, while current information is available in a List of Agreements and Arrangements Concerning Civil Aviation Registered With ICAO, published monthly in English, French and Spanish. It can also be indicated here that specialized treatises devoted to the work of an inter-governmental organization may include appendices showing the state of ratifications for the multilateral treaties concluded under its auspices; see, for example, E. A. Landy’s The Effectiveness of International Supervision: Thirty Years of I.L.O. Experience 213–216 (London: Stevens, 1966), showing the state of ratifications of ILO conventions as of June 30, 1964, and G. A. Johnston’s The International Labour Organisation: Its Work for Social and Economic Progress 314–322 (London: Europa Publications [1970]), which presents a list of ratifications as of Jan. 1, 1970.

24 See the U.N. publication mentioned earlier, Multilateral Treaties in Respect of Which the Secretary-General Performs Depositary Functions: List of Signatures, Ratifications, Accessions, etc. as at 31 December 1970, pp. 187–199.

25 Copies of the loose-leaf Status of Legal Instruments, which is available in English or in French, can be ordered from the GATT Secretariat, Villa Le Bocage, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. $25.00.

26 E.g., Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT Activities in 1969/70, pp. 46–47 (Geneva: 1970). It may also be of interest to note here that a very useful listing of 116 GATT agreements with dates of signatures, entry into force, citations to the United Nations Treaty Series and U.S. sources, as well as indications of U.S. participation, appears as Appendix C, GATT Agreements and United States Proclamations, in John H. Jackson’s “The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in United States Domestic Law,” 66 Mich. Law Rev. 249–332, at 319–331 (1967/68).

27 The Organization of American States publishes annually a pamphlet, entitled Status of Interamerican Treaties and Conventions, which provides basic data, while more detailed information is available in Tratados y Convenciones Interamericanos. Firmas, Ratificaciones y Depositos con Notas Explicativas (Washington, D. C: Organization of American States, 1969. pp. 214 (Serie sobre tratados, 9)). The Directorate of Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe regularly publishes a Chart Showing the Deposit of Ratifications of Council of Europe Conventions and Agreements, while the current developments are covered in Legal Cooperation in Europe, published twice a year as Forward in Europe by the Council of Europe Directorate of Press and Information. Status information on the Council of Europe conventions is also regularly available in the Annuaire Européen [European Yearbook] and various other publications but it is not as up to date there as in the official Council of Europe charts.

28 Stefan Glaser, Droit international pénal conventionnel at 209–629 (Brussels: Bruylant, 1971. pp. 649), where text excerpts of treaties and status information are arranged under the following main subject headings: “1) Guerre (Crimes contre la paix); 2) Terrorisme; 3) Droit de la guerre (Crimes de guerre); 4) Droits de I’hiumanité (Crimes contre lliumanité); 5) Problème de la prescription [des crimes de guerre]; 6) Traite des hommes; 7) Stupéfiants; 8) Publications obscènes; 9) Biens culturels; 10) Biens d’utilité publique; 11) Sécurité de circulation; 12) Faux monnayage; 13) Juridiction.”

29 Yvon Loussouarn and J.-D. Bredin, Droit du Commerce International (Paris: Sirey, 1969. pp. x, 1036).

30 Helmut Hecker, Mehrseitige völkerrechtliche Verträge zum Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht (Frankfürt a.M.: Metzner, 1970. pp. I l l) (Sammlung geltender Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetze, 30).

31 Copyright Laws and Treaties of the World, edited by Arpad L. Bogsch [et al.] (Paris: UNESCO; Washington, D. C: The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1956–date, 2 vols, (loose-leaf)), where status information is indicated for each relevant multilateral convention and country. A French edition, Lois et traités sur le droit d’auteur, has been published for UNESCO by the Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence in book form and is kept up to date by annual supplements which include status information.

32 Quellen des Urheberrechts. Gesetzestexte aller Länder und Tabellen über internationale Verträge mit systematischen Einführungen. Herausgeber: Philipp Moehring, Eugen Ulmer, Erich Schulze [und] Konrad Zweigert (Frankfurt a.M.: Metzner, 1960– date. 3 vols. (loose-leaf)).

33 Design Laws and Treaties of the World, including references to the protection of works of applied art. Editor: Arpad L. Bogsch (Leiden: Sijthoff; Washington, D.C.; The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., 1960–date. 1 vol. (loose-leaf)).

34 Heinrich Gruetzner, Internationaler Rechtshilfeverkehr in Strafsachen (Hamburg: R. v. Decker’s Verlag, G. Schenck, 1955–date. 6 vols, (loose-leaf)), specifically, Teil III: Mehrseitige Abkommen, in which the status information as provided is based on announcements in the German Bundesgesetzblatt.

35 A. N. Makarov, Quellen des internationalen Privatrechts—Recueil des textes concernant le droit international privé (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1960–date. 2 vols, (looseleaf) (Materialien zum ausländischen und internationalen Privatrecht, 4)), specifically, Bd. II: Texte der Staatsvertrage [Textes des traités internationaux].

36 Wm. W. White and B. G. Ravenscroft, Trademarks Throughout the World (New York: Trade Activities, Inc., 1966–date. 1 vol. (loose-leaf)).

37 United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Manual of Industrial Property Conventions (Geneva: 1965–date. 1 vol. (loose-leaf)).