Article 2 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties defines a treaty as "an international agreement concluded between states in written form and governed international law".
Treaties form the basis of relations between governments and can be accessed in print or online collections organized by the signatory countries or an organizing international body.
Start with reference tools to determine the following:
Collections of bilateral and multilateral treaties are available at the UVic Libraries. Historical collections are also available, browse the JX call number areas in both libraries.
Cite international treaties, agreements, or conventions as follows:
Title, names of countries /parties (if applicable) , date of signature, treaty series reference(s), in force date.
Example:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 19 December 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, (entered into force 23 March 1976).
In the above example the parties are not named, because it is a multilateral treaty.
Consult the Harvard Bluebook or the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation for further explanations.
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