The third Restatement's definition reads. "§301 DEFINITIONS As used in this Restatement, (1)"international agreement"means an agreement between two or more states or international organizations that is intended to be legally binding and is governed by international law. This definition shies away from using the word"treaty"since it is intended to cover both treaties and"executive agreements"which are less formal but equally binding. There are a whole range of words that are used for agreements that are meant to have the force of law. Although treaty is the most common, others include Agreement, Charter, Convention, Covenant, and Protocol Whatever particular designation is used all have the same legal status The treaty-making process is highly analogous to the way contracts are arrived at in private law The process involves negotiation, a signing by representatives of the parties, and ratification by the appropriate national bodies. In an ideal world, this is followed by publication of the text, but publication of treaties is far less regularized than publication of standard domestic law statutes There are two main classes of treaties: bilateral and multilateral, ie, with two parties or many parties. Double taxation and extradition treaties are usually bilateral Multilateral treaties are used to solve global or regional problems and to create global or regional Institutions It is important to remember that treaties do not come into force when they are signed even though date of signing is an important citation element. Most treaties have a clause within them as to when they come into effect. This may be the date of ratification, the date parties have enacted required follow-on legislation, or, with multilateral treaties, the date when a set number of parties have ratified it. Parties who join a multilateral treaty which is already in force for some countries specify the date it comes into effect for themselves A new general treatise on treaties is Anthony Aust's Modern Treaty Law and Practice,( Cambridge University Press, 2000), found on the second floor at JX4160 Au735 2000 Publication of U.S. Treaties The governmental publication of treaties in the US is somewhat irregular. Often the text first appears as a"Treaty Document", distributed when the President submits the treaty to the Senate for ratification. For multilateral treaties that are the result of many years negotiation, the draft treaty is often available from the body that is coordinating the development of the final text. In the early years of the republic, treaties appeared as part of the Statutes-at-Large, but that was not regular. Several compiled editions of treaties were published in the early part of the 20 th century, ulminating in Bevans' Treaties and other international agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949, (2nd Floor, JX236 1968)The third Restatement’s definition reads: "§ 301 DEFINITIONS As used in this Restatement, (1) "international agreement" means an agreement between two or more states or international organizations that is intended to be legally binding and is governed by international law;" This definition shies away from using the word "treaty" since it is intended to cover both treaties and "executive agreements" which are less formal but equally binding. There are a whole range of words that are used for agreements that are meant to have the force of law. Although treaty is the most common, others include Agreement, Charter, Convention, Covenant, and Protocol. Whatever particular designation is used, all have the same legal status. The treaty-making process is highly analogous to the way contracts are arrived at in private law. The process involves negotiation, a signing by representatives of the parties, and ratification by the appropriate national bodies. In an ideal world, this is followed by publication of the text, but publication of treaties is far less regularized than publication of standard domestic law statutes. There are two main classes of treaties: bilateral and multilateral, ie., with two parties or many parties. Double taxation and extradition treaties are usually bilateral, involving only two countries. Multilateral treaties are used to solve global or regional problems and to create global or regional institutions. It is important to remember that treaties do NOT come into force when they are signed even though date of signing is an important citation element. Most treaties have a clause within them as to when they come into effect. This may be the date of ratification, the date parties have enacted required follow-on legislation, or, with multilateral treaties, the date when a set number of parties have ratified it. Parties who join a multilateral treaty which is already in force for some countries specify the date it comes into effect for themselves. A new general treatise on treaties is Anthony Aust's Modern Treaty Law and Practice , (Cambridge University Press, 2000), found on the second floor at JX4160 Au735 2000. Publication of U.S. Treaties The governmental publication of treaties in the US is somewhat irregular. Often the text first appears as a "Treaty Document", distributed when the President submits the treaty to the Senate for ratification. For multilateral treaties that are the result of many years negotiation, the draft treaty is often available from the body that is coordinating the development of the final text. In the early years of the republic, treaties appeared as part of the Statutes-at-Large, but that was not regular. Several compiled editions of treaties were published in the early part of the 20 th century, culminating in Bevans’ Treaties and other international agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949, (2nd Floor, JX236 1968)