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Treaty Research

A guide to resources for treaty research prepared by John Bolan, Bora Laskin Law Library

Citing a Treaty

For complete information on how to cite a treaty refer to the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (the McGill Guide), 9th ed (2018) rule 5.1.1.

In general, citations to treaties take the form shown in the box below.

Order of preference for treaty sources

The McGill Guide specifies the following order of preference for treaty citations:

  1. United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) or League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS)
  2. The official treaty series of a state involved, for example the Canada Treaty Series (Can TS)
  3. Other sources.

Abbreviations

The McGill Guide provides a list of treaty series and their abbreviations.

Example of Treaty Citation

 

Title,

parties (if applicable),

date of signature or date open for signature,

treaty series reference,

    other source       

other information (optional).

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

 

1 March 1980,

1249 UNTS 13,

Can TS 1982 No 31

(Entered into force 03 September 1981, ratification by Canada 10 Dec 1981)[CEDAW].