Yale Law Library - Foreign and International Blog : Treaties

Treaty of Lisbon enters into force December 1, 2009

Teresa Miguel — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:55:00 GMT

HeinOnline's Blog this week has a nice entry on the Treaty of Lisbon with links to finding scholarly articles about the "Road to Lisbon" and other EU treaties.

Briefly, Czech President Vaclav Klaus ratified the Treaty of Lisbon on November 3, 2009. The Czech Republic was the final Member State to ratify the Treaty. The instrument of ratification was deposited in Rome on November 13, 2009 and will enter into force on December 1, 2009. The new EU presidency and other top jobs have now been filled. The EU's Europa database has indepth treatment of the Treaty of Lisbon.

The EU's "Your Guide to the Lisbon Treaty" highlights several prinipal provisions of the treaty:

1. More democracy, more openness: The Treaty gives you a stronger voice in decision-making.

2. Faster, more efficient decision-making: The Lisbon Treaty streamlines the EU’s decision-making procedures.

3. Modernising the EU’s institutions: A key aim of the Lisbon Treaty is to modernise the institutions that run the EU’s business and makes them more democratic.

4. Economic policy: The Lisbon Treaty confi rms the commitment to achieving economic and monetary union with the euro as the EU’s currency.

5. Th e European Union in the world: The EU pledges to promote the values of the EU in the world by contributing to:

• peace and security;
• sustainable development of the Earth;
• solidarity and mutual respect among peoples;
• free and fair trade;
• eradication of poverty;
• protection of human rights;
• respect for and enhancement of international law as defi ned, in particular, in the United Nations Charter.

6. Security and defence: The Lisbon Treaty spells out more clearly the EU’s role in the area of common foreign and security policy. Decisions on defence issues will continue to need unanimous approval of the 27 EU Member States.

7. Justice and crime: The Lisbon Treaty contains important new provisions strengthening the EU’s ability to fi ght international cross-border crime, illegal immigration, traffi cking of people, arms and drugs.

8. Social policy: The Lisbon Treaty steps up the EU’s social objectives. It provides that, in all its policies and actions, the EU will take into account the promotion of a high level of employment.

9. New areas of cooperation: The Lisbon Treaty has important provisions in a number of new policy areas reinforcing the EU’s ability to fi ght international cross-border crime, illegal immigration, traffi cking of women and children, drugs and arms.

10. Human rights: The Lisbon Treaty recognises the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and makes the charter legally binding.

The law library also has a fine selection of material related to the Lisbon Treaty and the EU. See, for example:

The Lisbon Treaty: EU Constitutionalism without a Constitutional Treaty? KJE4443.32007 .L57 2008
Dividing Lines between the European Union and its Member States: The Impact of the Treaty of Lisbon. KJE4443.32007 .S54 2008
Comprendre le Traité de Lisbonne: Texte Consolidé Intégral de Traités: Explications et Commentaires. KJE970 .S28 2008

Treaties in Force 2009

Teresa Miguel — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:22:00 GMT

The just-released Treaties in Force 2009 publication by the U.S. Department of State will tell you what bilateral and mulitlateral treaties to which the United States is a party are currently in force. This is an annual publication also available in print and on HeinOnline (subscription database available to Yale community only).

Treaty research can be complicated so there are plenty of research guides and databases to help with your research. You will find them on our Foreign and International Research Resources page.

Treaty Research with Flare

Teresa Miguel — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:15:00 GMT

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies has released a new easy-to-use treaty index: FIT, the Flare Index to Treaties.

FIT is searchable by any one or a combination of the following:

keywords drawn from the official, popular and alternative titles which have been used for each treaty
additional keywords relevant to the subject matter or organisations associated with the treaty
the date on which the treaty was concluded
the place where the treaty was concluded

For example, a free-text search for "genocide" will redirect you to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. When you click on the Convention, you'll discover that the treaty was concluded on 9/12/1958 in New York, and is published at 78 UNTS 277 (and many other places). There are also several links that will take you to the full-text of the convention.

For more resources related to treaty research, including a drafting history (travaux preparatoires) research guide and an annotated list of databases, see the Yale Foreign and International Resources page.

Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS)

Teresa Miguel — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:27:00 GMT

The State Deparment recently began publishing online the Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS). This website is open-access and a work-in-progress. As of today there are only treaties from the years 1996 - 1998. The treaties are available in pdf. UPDATE: TIAS is now available up to 2001.

You can find scanned pdfs of the TIAS print volumes on HeinOnline from 1982 - 1996. UPDATE: TIAS is now available up to 2000.

The print volumes of TIAS are available on L1 (KZ235.32 .U55) but have only been published up to 1998.

EU and Cuba Renew Relations

Teresa Miguel — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:52:00 GMT

The BBC recently reported that the EU and Cuba have formally renewed ties that were severed 5 years ago following "a mass arrest of dissidents." Cuba will now receive 2 million Euros of aid for the hurricanes that swept over the island this summer; aid will increase to 30 million Euros next year.

The Yale Law Library purchases Cuban legal materials whenever possible, in both English and Spanish. You can find Cuban materials on the Lower East Side (LES), Call No. KGN. See, for example:

The Role of the Judiciary in Post-Castro Cuba - KGH2545 .S26 2003
Instrumentos internacionales sobre derechos humanos ratificados por Cuba - KGN3003 .I57 2001
La protección del medio ambiente en Cuba - KGN3305 .A67 C66 2005

Of course we also collect interdisciplinary materials involving Cuba and the United States. Try a Subject Heading search in our Morris catalog:

Cuba - Foreign Relations - United States; or
Cuba - Foreign Economic Relations - United States
When you pull up an item record on Morris, click on any of the Subjects Headings to view other related Subject Headings. Click again on any of the Subject Headings to find related books.

For a compilation of treaties involving Cuba, try another Subject Heading search: Cuba - Foreign Relations - Treaties . Also check out the new and improved United Nations Treaty Collection database. It's open-access and easy to search.

We also have a few Cuban DVDs:

Lucia (1968) by Humberto Solas (one of my all-time favorites!)
Quien Diablos es Julietta? (1967) by Carlos Marcovich
Check IMDB for reviews: Lucia and Julietta

The Avalon Project also has documents pertaining to Cuba, specifically the Cuban Missile Crisis.

United Nations Treaty Collection

Teresa Miguel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:49:00 GMT

The new and improved United Nations Treaty Collection database is up and running. In this fabulous open-access database, you can find the complete run of the United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), League of Nations Treaty Series (LoN), Multilateral treaties deposited with the UN, Status of Treaties (MTDSG), Certified True Copies (CTCs) of treaties (pdfs), and Depositary Notifications (CNs). There is a UN legal research guide, cumulative index, and more. The database has been further refined to offer a variety of advanced search features including Popular Name search, Title search, and Participant search.

UNTS is also available in print in the tunnel between L1 and the UES. You can find all of Yale's subscription-based and some open-access international law databases and resources on our Foreign and International Law Resources page.

Guantanamo Bay Cases

Teresa Miguel — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT

The U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia has created a webpage of public information on the Guantanamo Bay cases. Find the court schedule, court orders and opinions, and press releases and notices.

Meanwhile, back at the camp, the trial of Osama Bin Laden's driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, began about 10 days ago, as reported on NPR. In 2006, Yale law students worked closely with Mr. Hamdan's lawyer, Neal Katyal, a YLS grad, in his challenge of the use of military commissions; they were victorious. As a result, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Another Guantanamo prisoner, Omar Khadr, has been in the news recently as a result of the release of a videotaped interrogation conducted on the island. The video was released by Mr. Khadar's defense team, as explained in this story on NPR. An interesting history of Mr. Khadar's life and eventual detention at Guantanamo can be read in a 2006 article in Rolling Stone; a summary of his legal history can be found on Human Rights First.

The U.S. Dept. of Defense, Military Commissions, has a website with court filings and documents pertaining to Mr. Khadr's and Mr. Hamdan's cases, as well as other Guantanamo Bay detainees facing trial. The Military Commissions Act and Military Commissions Manual can also be found here.

The Yale Law Library has several recently published book on the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the Guantanamo detainees:

Honor Bound: Inside the Guantanamo Trials by Kyndra Miller Rotunda (2008)
Bush, the Detainees, and the Constitution: The Battle over Presidential Power in the War on Terror by Howard Ball (2007)
Beyond the Law: The Bush Administration's Unlawful Responses in the "War" on Terror by Jordan J. Paust (2007)

We also have interesting historical works on military commissions in the U.S.:

Constitutional Limitation on Trials by Military Commissions by Harold Loeb (1943) (microfiche)
Military Commissions for the Trial of Citizens: A Letter to the Attorney General of the United States by John H. James, Jr. (1860) (microfiche and MOML)
An Argument to Establish the Illegality of Military Commissions in the United States, and Especially of the One Organized for the Trial of the Parties Charged with Conspiring to Assassinate the Late President, and Others, Presented to that Commission, on Monday, the 19th of June, 1865 by Reverdy Johnson, one of the counsel of Mrs. Surratt (1865)

There are several online, free research guides pertaining to the Military Commissions Act of 2006:

Finders keepers? Spain claims sunken treasure

Teresa Miguel — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:23:00 GMT

NPR reported this morning on Spain's battle to reclaim the treasure from a sunken Spanish vessel recovered in international waters in the Atlantic Ocean by Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa, FL. The 19th century shipwreck contained some 17 tons in silver coins, cuff links and other personal items, and other artifacts; it may be the most valuable treasure ever discovered. Exact details of the discovery have yet to be revealed.

A Federal District Court in Tampa is reviewing Spain's claim to the treasure that Odyssey recovered. Spain insists that Odyssey's claim to the warship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes is immoral and illegal. Spain compares the Nuestra Señora site to the grave sites of Gettysburg and the U.S.S. Arizona, as the sinking of Nuestra Señora precipitated Spain's entry into the Napoleonic wars. Odyssey maintains, however, that they found no vessel and no human remains, just the cargo, and there is nothing to prove that it is the cargo of La Senora. In PACER, the federal court's password-protected electronic filing database (which is available free to the public in several federal depository libraries), you can review court filings for this case (8:07-cv-00614-SDM-MAP) as well as several others in which the Kingdom of Spain has filed a claim (ask a reference librarian for assistance if needed).

So just what is the law pertaining to sunken treasures? Finders keepers? Return to rightful owner?

The Yale Law Library has several books pertaining to the law of sunken treasure and cultural patrimony. See, for example, Legal Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: National and International Perspectives. This book compares the laws, traditions, and perspectives of various countries, including the United States and Spain. Note the Subject Headings at the bottom of the record: Cultural property -- Protection -- Law and legislation; Shipwrecks; Salvage; Treasure-trove; Underwater archaeology -- Law and legislation. Click on any of them to find more works pertaining to that topic.

In comparison, see, The Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: National Perspectives in Light of the UNESCO Convention 2001, for an international law focus and analysis. Under the Subject Heading, underwater archaeology - law and legislation, you will find books in several languages other than English, including French German, Spanish, Russian and Italian. Admiralty law also comes into play, specifically the Supplementary Admiralty Rules. See also, Admiralty and Maritime Law, available in print and electronically.

There are several international law databases you might try as well to find case law and law review articles. See our Foreign and International Resources page for the plethora of electronic resources at your fingertips, or ask a reference librarian for assistance.

Children’s Rights: International and National Laws and Practices

Teresa Miguel — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:51:00 GMT

The Library of Congress has launched a series of multinational, comparative legal studies on the rights of children.

"Children’s Rights examines sixteen nations, across five continents: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia, and the United Kingdom (England and Wales). For each nation, the study focuses on the domestic laws and policies that affect child health and social welfare, education and special needs, child labor and exploitation, sale and trafficking of children, and juvenile justice. Children’s Rights also lists which pertinent international treaties the nation has ratified and implemented."

The reports, as well as an overview (providing a summary of relevant global and regional legal instruments, including human-rights related instruments and international agreements on child protection and placement), are available in both html and pdf format, with footnotes and hyperlinks. The overview and the country reports, as they become available, can be accessed from the project's main page.

New sources on treaties and international agreements

Evelyn Ma — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:14:00 GMT

Two new congressional publications of interest to to those researching in treaties and international agreements:

1. Senate print (S. prt. 106-71) "Treaties and other international agreements: the role of the U.S.Senate" .

2. CRS Report (RL 33865/2008) "Arms Control and Nonproliferation: a Catalog of Treaties and agreements"

Source: [Int-Law] listserv