TMLL Research Guide - Chapter 11

LOCATING IMPLEMENTING LAWS AND REGULATIONS AND JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS

Often, implementing legislation is required before terms of an international agreement become a part of United States law. In addition, implementing regulations may be found that have been issued by an appropriate federal agency, and federal court cases may interpret ambiguous treaty language. The usual sources of federal law (the U.S. Code, C.F.R., Federal Reporter, or United States Reports) may, therefore, have information relating to implementation of a particular treaty.

U.S.C., U.S.C.A., and U.S.C.S.

The normal access points should be used to search for implementing legislation. U.S.C.S. has a volume called "Annotations to Uncodified Laws and Treaties," that collects case notes to various multilateral and bilateral treaties to which the United States is a party.

Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register

The usual access points and updating techniques should be used to search for implementing regulations.

West's Federal Practice Digest

A West topic "Treaties" collects references to cases that interpret and apply U.S. international agreements. The topic "International Law" is useful for finding cases that relate to more general questions about the sources of international law and their relationship to U.S. law.

United States case law databases on Lexis and Westlaw

The federal case databases can be helpful for locating cases that have applied or interpreted international agreements. On Westlaw you can run a search using the topic and key number system. The West topic “Treaties” is assigned the topic number 385 online. So, if for example you had found that the digest topic Treaties key 14 on violation was useful, you could enter a search for 385k14 on Westlaw. The West topic “International Law” is assigned topic number 221 online.

Internet sites containing international law materials

The Internet has become an especially rich source of foreign law interpreting international agreements. Access these sites through the Thurgood Marshall Law Library International and Foreign Law page http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/researchguides/specialtypages/internationalresources.html. Two other sites that represent good starting points are:

• ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law is a development project of the American Society of International Law: Guides to electronic sources in six areas: the United Nations, Treaties, Human Rights, Environmental Law, International Criminal Law, and Lists of Newsgroups and Networks: http://www.asil.org/resource/Home.htm.

• University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library has several research guides that collect links to foreign and international law websites at: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/forintlaw.html#guides.