The Ratification of Maritime Conventions
Chapter I.2.05
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE UNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES CONCERNING THE IMMUNITY OF STATE-OWNED SHIPS, 1926, AND ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL, 1934
ADOPTED: Done at Brussels, 10 April 1926 and 24 May 1934
REFERENCE: IMMUNITY STATE-OWNED SHIPS 1926/1934
ENTERED INTO FORCE: 8 January 1937
DEPOSITARY: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brussels
SECRETARY: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brussels
IMPLEMENTATION
SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION, ACCESSION
Article IX
After an interval of not more than two years from the day on which the Convention is signed, the Belgian Government shall place itself in communication with the Governments of the High Contracting Parties which have declared themselves prepared to ratify the Convention, with a view to deciding whether it shall be put into force. The ratifications shall be deposited at Brussels at a date to be fixed by agreement among the said Governments. The first deposit of ratifications shall be recorded in a procès-verbal signed by the representatives of the Powers which take part therein and by the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The subsequent deposits of ratifications shall be made by means of a written notification, addressed to the Belgian Government, and accompanied by the instrument of ratification.
A duly certified copy of the procès-verbal relating to the first deposit of ratifications, of the notifications referred to in the previous paragraph and also of the instruments of ratification accompanying them, shall be immediately sent by the Belgian Government through the diplomatic channel to the Powers who have acceded to it. In cases contemplated in the preceding paragraph the said Government shall inform them at the same time of the date on which it received the notification.
Article X
Non-signatory States may accede to the present Convention whether or not they have been represented at the International Conference at Brussels.
A State which desires to accede shall notify its intention in writing to the Belgian Government, forwarding to it the document of accession, which shall be deposited in the archives of the said Government.
The Belgian Government shall immediately forward to all the States which have signed or acceded to the Convention a duly certified copy of the notification and of the act of accession, mentioning the date on which it received the notification.
ENTRY INTO FORCE
Article XII
The present Convention shall take effect, in the case of the States which have taken part in the first deposit of ratifications, one year after the date of the procès-verbal recording such deposit. As respects the States which ratify subsequently or which accede, and also in cases in which the Convention is subsequently put into effect in accordance with Article XI, it shall take effect six months after the notifications specified in Article IX, paragraph 2, and Article X, paragraph 2, have been received by the Belgian Government.
DENUNCIATION
Article XIII
In the event of one of the contracting States wishing to denounce the present Convention, the denunciation shall be notified in writing to the Belgian Government, which shall immediately communicate a duly certified copy of the notification to all the other States informing them of the date on which it was received.
The denunciation shall only operate in respect of the State which made the notification, and on the expiration of one year after the notification has reached the Belgian Government.
AMENDMENTS
Article XIV
Any one of the contracting States shall have the right to call for a fresh Conference with a view to considering possible amendments.
A State which would exercise this right should give one year advance notice of its intention to the other States through the Belgian Government, which would make arrangements for convening the Conference.
TERRITORIAL APPLICATION
Article XI
The High Contracting Parties may at the time of signature, ratification, or accession, declare that their acceptance of the present Convention does not include any or all of the self-governing Dominions, or of the colonies, overseas possessions, protectorates, or territories under their sovereignty or authority, and they may subsequently accede separately on behalf of any self-governing Dominion, colony, overseas possession, protectorate or territory excluded in their declaration. They may also denounce the Convention separately in accordance with its provisions in respect of any self-governing Dominion, or any colony, overseas possession, protectorate, or territory under their sovereignty or authority.
DECLARATIONS AND RESERVATIONS
United Kingdom
(1) Reservations
“We reserve the right to apply Article I of the Convention to any claim in respect of a ship which falls within the Admiralty jurisdiction of our courts, or of our Courts in any territory in respect of which We are party to the Convention.
We reserve the right, with respect to Article II of the Convention, to apply in proceedings concerning another High Contracting Party or ship of another High Contracting Party the rules of procedure set out in Chapter II of the European Convention on State Immunity, signed at Basle on the Sixteenth day of May, in the Year of Our Lord One thousand Nine hundred and Seventy-two.
In order to give effect to the terms of any international agreement with a non-Contracting State, We reserve the right to make special provision
- (a) as regards the delay or arrest of a ship or cargo belonging to such a State,
- and
- (b) to prohibit seizure of or execution against such a ship or cargo.”
(2) Declaration (cfr. art. 11 de la Convention)
The Convention and the Protocol are not applicable to the following territories: Bermuda, British Territory of the Indian Ocean, Gibraltar.
Bailiwick of Guernsey
(Reservations, see United Kingdom)
Bailiwick of Jersey
(Reservations, see United Kingdom)
Isle of Man
(Reservations, see United Kingdom)