CITATION TO INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, CASES, AND

CITATION TO INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, CASES, AND ARBITRATIONS

UNDER BLUEBOOK RULE 21

Citation to international sources,

such as a treaty or a case decided by an international court, is

governed by Rule 21 of The Bluebook. Rule 21 also covers citation to documents published by

certain intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations, European Union, and World

Trade Organization, but these rules are not discussed in this handout. Citation to foreign

materials,

like statutes of another country is also not within the scope of this handout. This

handout focuses on Rule 21.4 (Treaties and Other International Agreements), Rule 21.5

(International Law Cases), and Rule 21.6 (International Arbitrations and Claims Commissions),

and provides guidance on how to format the citation for each source.

I. TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Citation of a treaty or other international agreement generally includes the following

information: (1) name of the agreement, (2) parties to the agreement, if applicable, (3)

subdivisions, if citing only part of an agreement, (4) date of signing, and (5) the source(s) where

the treaty or agreement can be found. The citation will be different based on whether the treaty or

agreement is between two parties or multiple parties. In the following citation examples, the

relevant portion discussed in each heading or paragraph is highlighted in blue for purposes of

illustration only.

Name of Agreement (Rule 21.4.1)

The name of the treaty or agreement should include both its form and subject matter. The

agreement could take various forms, such as an agreement, convention, memorandum, protocol,

treaty, or understanding. If the name includes more than one form, use only the first form that

appears on the title page, unless doing so would create ambiguity.

Convention

Not: Convention & Supplementary Protocol

Prepared by Hayoung Park, Spring 2017. Revised in 2021 by Richard Bernache and Halle Edwards.

For an introduction on different sources of international law, refer to the Writing Center’s handout, A Guide to the

Basics of International Law.

https://www.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/A-Guide-to-the-Basics-

of-Intl-Law.pdf

Consult Rule 20 for information on citation to foreign materials.

The subject matter of the agreement can be found in the title of the agreement.

Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The citation should provide the treaty name in English, but if there is no English-language name

available, follow the rule for non-English language documents under rule 20.2.2, which requires

the name to appear in the original language for the first citation. A shortened name or the full

name in English may appear in brackets following the original-language name.

Verdrag tot het Vermijden van Dubbele Belasting [Agreement for the Avoidance of Double

Taxation], Neth.-Swed., art. 4, Apr. 25, 1952, 163 U.N.T.S. 131.

When citing to a treaty or agreement for the first time, the citation should provide the treaty’s full

name. But if the full name is very long or if the treaty is commonly known by a popular name,

the first citation should end with a bracketed “hereinafter” short-form citation that can be used in

subsequent citations.

Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other

Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, June 17, 1925, 26 U.S.T. 571

[hereinafter Geneva Protocol].

Geneva Protocol, supra note 1, at 572.

Parties to the Agreement (Rule 21.4.2)

When citing to a bilateral treaty, the citation should indicate both parties, whose names should be

abbreviated according to T10 and appear in alphabetical order with a hyphen in between.

Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, Japan-U.S., art. XI, ¶ 1, Apr. 2, 1953, 4

U.S.T. 2063.

Subdivisions (Rule 21.4.3)

When citing to only part of an agreement, or when citing an appended document, the citation

should provide the subdivision or appended document. Citation to a subdivision of an agreement

can include the article, paragraph, or section number instead of a pincite for the treaty series.

Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, Japan-U.S., art. XI, ¶ 1, Apr. 2, 1953, 4

U.S.T. 2063.

Date of Signing (Rule 21.4.4)

The citation should give the exact date of signing. If multiple discrete dates of signing are given,

list the first and last dates of signing, separated by an en dash. If the treaty was signed on many

dates, give the date on which the treaty was open for signature, approved, ratified, or adopted,

and indicate the significance of the date in italics. Other relevant dates, such as the date on which

a treaty entered into force, may be included in a parenthetical at the end of the citation.

Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, Japan-U.S., art. XI, ¶ 1, Apr. 2, 1953, 4

U.S.T. 2063.

Agreement on Weather Stations, Colom.-U.S., Apr. 27–May 13, 1964, 15 U.S.T. 1335.

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, opened for signature July 1, 1968, 21

U.S.T. 483, 729 U.N.T.S. 161.

U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, opened for signature Dec. 10, 1982, 1833

U.N.T.S. 397 (entered into force Nov. 16, 1994).

Treaty Sources (Rule 21.4.5)

The Bluebook provides a list of international treaty sources in T4. The treaty source that should

be used in the citation depends on whether the United States is a party to the treaty, and whether

the treaty is a bilateral or multilateral treaty.

For bilateral treaties between the United States and another party, cite one of the following

sources, in the following order of preference: U.S.T. (or Stat.); T.I.A.S. (or T.S., or E.A.S.);

U.N.T.S.; Senate Treaty Documents or Senate Executive Documents; the Department of State

Dispatch; Department of State Press Releases.

Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, Japan-U.S., art. XI, ¶ 1, Apr. 2, 1953, 4

U.S.T. 2063.

For multilateral treaties to which the United States is a party, cite one of the U.S. domestic

sources listed for bilateral treaties above, if therein. Citation of a multilateral treaty may include

a parallel citation from a source published by an international organization, such as U.N.T.S.,

L.N.T.S., O.A.S.T.S., Pan-Am. T.S., O.J., E.T.S., or C.E.T.S.

North Atlantic Treaty art. 5, Apr. 4, 1949, 63 Stat. 2241, 34 U.N.T.S. 243.

For treaties or agreements to which the United States is not a party, cite one of the sources

published by an international organization listed such as U.N.T.S., L.N.T.S., O.A.S.T.S., Pan-

Am. T.S., O.J., E.T.S., or C.E.T.S., if therein. If not, cite the official source of one signatory with

a parenthetical indicating the jurisdiction of the source unless it is clear from the context.

Treaty of Neutrality, Hung.-Turk., Jan. 5, 1929, 100 L.N.T.S. 137.

Agreement on Trade, Economic, and Technical Cooperation, Austl.-Oman. Oct. 20, 1981,

1982 A.T.S. 4.

If a treaty does not appear in any of the sources discussed above, cite International Legal

Materials (I.L.M.). If it does not appear in I.L.M., cite another unofficial treaty source, including

the websites of governments and intergovernmental organizations, electronic databases, and

sources such as the Foreign Relations of the United States series, Parry’s Consolidated Treaty

Series, Hein’s microfiche treaty service, and Martens Nouveau Recueil. If none of these sources

works, cite a book (Rule 15), periodical, (Rule 16), or online source (Rule 18).

Olivos Protocol for the Settlement of Disputes in Mercosur art. 6, Feb. 18, 2002, 42 I.L.M.

Agreement Concerning Payments for Certain Losses Suffered During World War II, Fr.-

U.S., Jan. 18, 2001, Temp. State Dep’t No. 01-36, 2001 WL 416465.

II. INTERNATIONAL LAW CASES

Citation for an international law case largely follows rule 10 but is slightly modified. In general,

it includes the following information: (1) name of the case, (2) case number, (3) reporter, if any,

(4) characterization of the decision, (5) pincite, and (6) parenthetical with the date, prefaced by

the name of the court if it is not evident from the citation. A decision can be characterized as

judgment, order, advisory opinion, provisional measures, among others. Paragraph numbers,

rather than page numbers, should be used for a pincite in an international law case.

Prosecutor v. Tadić, Case No. IT-94-1-l, Decision on Defence Motion for Interlocutory

Appeal on Jurisdiction, ¶ 70 (Int’l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia Oct. 2, 1995).

However, the information that should be included in the citation changes depending on which

court the case is in. The Bluebook provides examples of citation for cases before the following

courts: International Court of Justice (or Permanent Court of International Justice), European

Union Courts, European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,

Inter- American Court of Human Rights, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and

International Criminal Court and other international criminal tribunals.

A. International Court of Justice/Permanent Court of International Justice (Rule 21.5.1)

Citation of a case before the International Court of Justice or its predecessor, the Permanent

Court of International Justice, includes the following information: (1) case name, (2) parties’

names, if any, (3) characterization of the decision, if relevant, (4) volume and name of the

publication in which the decision is found, (5) page or case number, (6) pincite, if any, and (7)

date.

The case name should omit the word “Case” and articles but should not abbreviate the names of

countries.

Continental Shelf

Not: Case Concerning the Continental Shelf

The parties’ names are abbreviated according to T10 and appear in a parenthetical immediately

following the case name. When a dispute is brought by one country against another, the parties’

names are separated by “v.” but when the parties reach a special agreement to bring a case, the

names are separated by a slash. No parties are listed for advisory opinions.

Military and Paramilitary Activities in and Against Nicaragua (Nicar. v. U.S.), Judgment,

1986 I.C.J. Rep. 14, ¶ 190 (June 27).

Delimitation of Maritime Boundary in Gulf of Maine Area (Can./U.S.), Judgment, 1982

I.C.J. Rep. 560, ¶ 22 (Nov. 5).

The volume of the publication is identified by year. Cite to Reports of Judgments, Advisory

Opinions and Orders (I.C.J.) for the International Court of Justice and cite to the seven series of

P.C.I.J. (A through F, including A/B) for the Permanent Court of International Justice. I.C.J.

cases are cited to the page on which they begin and P.C.I.J. cases are cited by number. Pincites

should refer to specific paragraphs, if available, or pages. The date includes the month and day

but not the year.

Reservations to Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Crime of Genocide,

Advisory Opinion, 1951 I.C.J. Rep. 15 (May 28).

Diversion of Water from Meuse (Neth. v. Belg.), Judgment, 1937 P.C.I.J. (ser. A/B) No.

70, at 7 (June 28).

I.C.J. materials that have not been published, but are available online, may be cited to

International Legal Materials (I.L.M.) or to the I.C.J. website.

Maritime Delimitation in Black Sea (Rom. v. Ukr.), Judgment, ¶ 5 (Feb. 3, 2009),

https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/132/132-20090203-JUD-01-00-Bl.pdf.

B. European Union Courts (Rule 21.5.2)

Citation of a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union, formerly the Court of

Justice of the European Communities, or the General Court, formerly the Court of First Instance,

includes the following information: (1) case number, (2) parties’ names, and (3) official reports

of the Court, including the year of decision.

Cases lodged before the Court of Justice since 1989 will contain the prefix “C” in the case name

while older cases will not have a prefix. Cases lodged before the General Court will carry the

prefix “T.” The parties’ names are abbreviated according to rule 10.2 and T6. Additionally, if the

Commission, Council, or Parliament of the European Union is one of the parties, give its name

as “Commission,” “Council,” or “Parliament.” Cite to Reports of Cases Before the Court of

Justice of the European Communities (E.C.R.) for pre-1990 cases and cite to Reports of Cases

Before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance (also E.C.R.) for post-1990 cases. The

year should come before the reporter abbreviation.

Case T-198/98, Micro Leader Bus. v. Comm’n, 1999 E.C.R. II-3989.

Case C-213/89, The Queen v. Sec’y of State for Transp. ex parte Factortame Ltd., 1990

E.C.R. I-2433.

Case 58/69, Elz v. Comm’n, 1970 E.C.R. 507.

C. European Court of Human Rights (Rule 21.5.3)

For cases decided after 2015, cite to the European Court of Human Right’s official website,

HUDOC (http://www.echr.coe.int). Citations should include the following information: (1) the

parties’ names (abbreviated according to rule 10.2), (2) the application number for the case, (3) a

pincite, (4) the date, and (5) the document URL.

S.M. v. Croatia, App. No. 60561/14, ¶ 81 (July 19, 2018),

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-184665.

For cases pre-2015, the citation includes the following information: (1) case name, (2) volume

number, (3) reporter, (4) page number, if applicable, and (5) year.

Cite to European Court of Human Rights, Reports of Judgment and Decisions (Eur. Ct. H.R.) but

older decisions may also be cited to the series of Publications of the European Court of Human

Rights (e.g., Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A)) or Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights

(Y.B. Eur. Conv. on H.R.). For some earlier volumes that contain only one case, the beginning

page does not need to be included and page numbers may be indicated directly by “at.”

Papon v. France (No. 2), 2001-XII Eur. Ct. H.R. 235.

Kampanis v. Greece, 318 Eur. Ct. H.R. 29, 35 (1995).

Ireland v. United Kingdom, 23 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. B) at 23 (1976).

D. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Rule 21.5.4)

Citation of a case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights includes the

following information: (1) case name, (2) case number, (3) volume name, (4) reporter number,

including the year of decision, (5) series and docket numbers, (6) paragraph number, if

applicable, and (7) year of the reporter. Cite to Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission

on Human Rights (Inter-Am. Comm’n H.R.).

Tortrino v. Argentina, Case 11.597, Inter-Am. Comm’n H.R., Report No. 7/98,

OEA/Ser.L./V/II.98, doc. 7 rev. ¶ 15 (1997).

E. Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Rule 21.5.5)

Citation of a case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights includes the following

information: (1) case name, (2) volume number, (3) series, (4) case number, (5) page number, if

necessary, and (6) date. Cite to Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-Am. Ct. H.R.). The

citation should include additional information depending on whether the cited material is

advisory opinion, contentious case, provisional measures, or compliance with judgment.

For advisory opinions, the citation should include the name of the opinion, followed by

“Advisory Opinion” and opinion code. Cite to Series A.

Restrictions to the Death Penalty (Arts. 4(2) and 4(4) American Convention on Human

Rights), Advisory Opinion OC-3/83, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) No. 3, ¶ 70 (Sept. 8,

1983).

For citation of contentious cases, the case name should be followed by the matter of decision and

the type of opinion. Cite to Series C.

Baldeon-Garcia v. Peru, Merits, Reparations, and Costs, Judgment, Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser.

C) No. 147, ¶ 169 (Apr. 6, 2006).

For provisional measures, the citation should include the name of the case or matter, followed by

“Provisional Measures” and the type of opinion. When citing to the print reports, cite to Series E

with the volume number and the first page of decision. The section name must also appear in

quotes. When citing an online version, cite the section name in quotes, the pincite, the court, the

date, and the website URL.

Bámaca Velázquez v. Guatemala, Provisional Measures, Order of the Court, Inter-Am. Ct.

H.R. (ser. E) No. 4, at 1, “Decides,” ¶ 2 (Sept. 5, 2001).

Mendoza Prisons Regarding Argentina, Provisional Measures, Order of the President of the

Court, “Having Seen,” ¶ 21 (Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. Aug. 22, 2007) www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/

medidas/penitenciarimendoza_se_04_ing.pdf.

For compliances with judgment, the citation should include the case name, followed by

“Monitoring Compliance with Judgment” and the type of opinion. When citing the print reports,

include the volume number, report name, first page of decision, and section name. When citing

an online version, cite the section name in quotes, the pincite, the court, the date, and the website

URL.

Genie Lacayo v. Nicaragua, Monitoring Compliance with Judgment, Order of the Court,

1998 Rep. Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. 335, “Resolves,” ¶ 1 (Aug. 29, 1998).

270 Workers v. Panama, Monitoring Compliance with Judgment, Order of the President of

the Court, “Considering,” ¶ 14 (Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. Feb 11, 2008)

www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/supervisiones/baena_11_02_08_ing.pdf.

F. International Tribunal For The Law of The Sea (Rule 21.5.6)

Citation of a case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea includes the following

information: (1) case name, (2) parties’ names, (3) case number, (4) type of ruling and date (5)

volume number, (6) publication name, (7) page number, and (8) pincite, if any. The parties’

names are abbreviated according to T10 and appear in a parenthetical. Cite to International

Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders (ITLOS

Rep.).

M/V Saiga (No. 2) (St. Vincent v. Guinea), Case No. 2, Order of Jan. 20, 1998, 2 ITLOS

Rep. 4, 5.

When print reports are unavailable cite to the Tribunal’s official website.

M/V Louisa (St. Vincent v. Spain), Case No. 18, Order 2011/1 of Jan. 12, 2011,

http://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/case_no_18_merits/18_order_12011_

en.pdf.

G. International Criminal Court and Other Tribunals (Rule 21.5.7)

Citation of a case before international criminal tribunals, including the International Criminal

Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal

Tribunal for Rwanda, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Special Court

for Sierra Leone, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, includes the following information: (1)

case name, (2) case number, (3) type of ruling, (4) paragraph number, if necessary, and (5) date.

The case name should include only one party on each side of the “v.” and only the last name of

individuals. The type of ruling should include only the last name of judges, if applicable. Also,

the tribunal’s name should be indicated before the date, if not included in the case number.

Prosecutor v. Katanga, ICC-01/04-01/07-3436-AnxI, Minority Opinion of Judge Wyngaert,

¶ 320 (Mar. 7, 2014).

Many cases can be found on official websites and should be cited pursuant to rule 18.1.

Prosecutor v. Gombo, Case No. ICC-001/05-01/08, Warrant of Arrest, ¶ 22 (May 23,

2008), http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc535163.pdf.

III. INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATIONS AND CLAIMS COMMISSIONS

A citation of a decision by an arbitral tribunal or claims commission generally follows the

citation rules for international law cases discussed above, with a few modifications. A citation

should include the following information: (1) name of the parties, (2) reporter, (3) pincite, if

available, and (4) parenthetical with the date, prefaced by the name of the court or tribunal if it is

not identified in the name of the reporter.

If adversarial parties are named, the parties’ name would appear like a case name. If not, the

citation should include the name of the first-party plaintiff or the subject matter if no name is

available. The countries involved in the arbitration should be indicated in a parenthetical, if

available and otherwise not evident from the citation. Arbitral awards should be cited to the

official source, if available. T5 provides a list of frequently cited arbitral reporters and claims

commissions.

Amoco Int’l Fin. Corp. v. Iran, 15 Iran-U.S. Cl. Trib. Rep. 189 (1987).

N. Atl. Coast Fisheries (U.K. v. U.S.), 11 R.I.A.A. 167, 196 (Perm. Ct. Arb. 1910).

For International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awards, the citation

should include the full diplomatic names for each country involved. If relevant, a description of

the type of decision or ruling should follow the case number.

Société Générale de Surveillance S.A. v. Republic of the Phil. ICSID Case No. ARB/02/6,

Objections to Jurisdiction, ¶ 154 (Jan. 29, 2004), 8 ICSID Rep. 518 (2005).

If a source is not available in a traditional print source, an internet source may be used pursuant

to rule 18.1.

In re Account of Gafner, Case No. CV96-4849, Certified Award, at 2 (Claims Resolution

Trib. 2006), http://www.crt-ii.org/_awards/_apdfs/Gafner_Elisabeth.pdf.