Oxford LibGuides: Germany : legal resources: Treaties

Finding the texts of treaties ratified by the Federal Republic of Germany

Bundesgesetzblatt Teil II 1949-2022 (Germany)
Official website. "In the years 1949 to 2022, legal norms were promulgated in the printed Federal Law Gazettes. The freely accessible archive held here contains the law gazettes published up to this point in time as they were published. (Fundstellennachweis B (FNB) is the official index to Teil II)"
Bundesgesetzblatt: Die Verkündungsplattform 2023 - (Promulgation Platform of the Federal Law Gazette, Germany)
Official website. "On the Promulgation Platform, you can find the laws and statutory instruments as adopted by the German Bundestag or the bodies authorized to issue statutory instruments. Often, these are not new laws, but amendments to existing laws. It is also common that numerous provisions of various core laws are changed through comprehensive amending acts known as “article laws” (Artikelgesetz). This is not always understandable in and of itself. Therefore, the Federal Ministry of Justice (“Bundesministerium der Justiz”) and the Federal Office of Justice (“Bundesamt für Justiz”) jointly provide free access to virtually the entire body of current federal law on the website www.gesetze-im-internet.de."
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The tab “Bundesgesetzblatt” contains Parts I and II of the Federal Law Gazette (“Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I, Teil II”), directories (“Fundstellennachweise”), information on publications from before 2023 (“Verkündungen vor 2023”) and the possibility to search the promulgated instruments (“Recherche”).

The tab “Informationen” contains a description of the site’s services (“Unsere Leistungen”), a list of frequently asked questions (“FAQ”) and a list of abbreviations (“Abkürzungsverzeichnis”). Under the “Informationen” tab, you will also find explanations on how to search (“So suchen Sie”) and a list of the legal areas for which publications are available (“Verzeichnis der Sachgebiete”), as well as the possibility of signature verification (“Signaturprüfung”). Lastly, it contains links to thematically related sites (“Weiterführende Seiten”).

Under the “Service” tab, you can sign up for the newsletter, which will keep you informed of the latest developments and publications. I
Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik über die Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands (EinigVtr)
Free from government website in HTML or as PDF.
Treaty of reunification.
Auswaertiges Amt (Germany)
Official website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Before an international treaty can take effect, a federal legislative procedure must be completed. See Article 59 II Grundgesetze

The texts of international treaties (& the related federal law) are officially published in the Federal Law Gazette Bundesgesetzblatt Teil II (BGBl.II in citations) The annual Fundstellenverzeichnis B indexes the Bundesgesetzblatt II chronologically, by name of participant state and by subject.

The LawBod has the print volumes at German 010 1949

The easiest way to find the text of bilateral investment treaties is often to use UNCTAD free Investment Instruments Online database - see link below.

Alternative sources for multilateral treaties (which may also supply an authentic text in English) are the League of Nations Treaty Series (LNTS) and the United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), shelved Internat 10. OU members can access both electronically via HeinOnline, however searching by name of participant country does not always work. The free, online UN Treaty Collection site (see second link below) may be better for participant searches.

Warning
The LawBod's copy of Sartorius : Bd. 2. Europa-Recht und andere internationale Verträge [later] Internationale Verträge-Europarecht at
Internat 500 S251 was last updated in 1993.

HeinOnline (LNTS & UNTS ) Requires Oxford SSO for remote access. The United Nations Law Collection gives full text access to both LNTS & UNTS and the Law Journal Library has ILM 1962-2010
UNCTAD's International Investments Hub
Free resource. Search UNCTAD's database of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and Treaties with Investment Provisions (TIPs)

German treaty law & practice

For an introduction in English see Chapter 9 of book below:

National treaty law and practice by eds Hollis, Blakeslee, Ederington
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this online via title link.
ISBN: 900414417X
Publication Date: 2005
Print copy is available at Internat 670 L529a, Level 3

Germany as depositary of multilateral treaties

"The Federal Republic of Germany is the depositary of more than 20 multilateral treaties. The wording of these treaties, status lists as well as declarations by contracting parties have been made available on [Federal Foreign Office] website since September 2011 and can now be found also in English."

Multilateral Treaties deposited with Germany
Official website