Multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General- TREATY I-XVIII--1.asp

United Nations Treaty Collection
[As of 5 February 2002]

1. Protocol amending the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25 September 1926

New York, 7 December 1953

Entry into force: 7 December 1953, in accordance with article III¹.

Registration: 7 December 1953, No. 2422.

Status: Signatories: 11 ,Parties: 59.

Text: United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 182, p. 51.


Entry into force:	7 December 1953, in accordance with article III¹.
Registration:	7 December 1953, No. 2422.
Status:	Signatories: 11 ,Parties: 59.
Text:	United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 182, p. 51.

Note: The Protocol was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in resolution 794 (VIII)^1, of 23 October 1953.

PARTICIPANTS


Participant	Signature	Definitive signature (s), Acceptance (A), Succession (d), Accession (a)
Afghanistan		16 Aug 1954 s
Antigua and Barbuda		25 Oct 1988 d
Australia		9 Dec 1953 s
Austria	7 Dec 1953	16 Jul 1954 A
Azerbaijan		16 Aug 1996 a
Bahamas		10 Jun 1976 d
Bangladesh		7 Jan 1985 A
Barbados		22 Jul 1976 d
Belgium	24 Feb 1954	13 Dec 1962 A
Bolivia		6 Oct 1983 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina³		1 Sep 1993 d
Cameroon		27 Jun 1984 A
Canada		17 Dec 1953 s
Chile		20 Jun 1995 a
China^4,5
Croatia³		12 Oct 1992 d
Cuba		28 Jun 1954 s
Denmark		3 Mar 1954 s
Dominica		17 Aug 1994 d
Ecuador	7 Sep 1954	17 Aug 1955 A
Egypt	15 Jun 1954	29 Sep 1954 A
Fiji		12 Jun 1972 d
Finland		19 Mar 1954 A
France	14 Jan 1954	14 Feb 1963 A
Germany^6,7		29 May 1973 A
Greece	7 Dec 1953	12 Dec 1955 A
Guatemala		11 Nov 1983 A
Guinea		12 Jul 1962 A
Hungary		26 Feb 1958 A
India		12 Mar 1954 s
Iraq		23 May 1955 A
Ireland		31 Aug 1961 A
Israel		12 Sep 1955 A
Italy		4 Feb 1954 s
Liberia		7 Dec 1953 s
Mali		2 Feb 1973 A
Mauritania		6 Jun 1986 A
Mexico		3 Feb 1954 s
Monaco	28 Jan 1954	12 Nov 1954 A
Morocco		11 May 1959 A
Myanmar	14 Mar 1956	29 Apr 1957 A
Netherlands	15 Dec 1953	7 Jul 1955 A
New Zealand		16 Dec 1953 s
Nicaragua		14 Jan 1986 A
Niger		7 Dec 1964 A
Norway	24 Feb 1954	11 Apr 1957 A
Romania		13 Nov 1957 s
Saint Lucia		14 Feb 1990 d
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		9 Nov 1981 A
Solomon Islands		3 Sep 1981 d
South Africa		29 Dec 1953 s
Spain		10 Nov 1976 s
Sweden		17 Aug 1954 s
Switzerland		7 Dec 1953 s
Syrian Arab Republic		4 Aug 1954 A
Turkey		14 Jan 1955 s
Turkmenistan		1 May 1997 a
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland		7 Dec 1953 s
United States of America	16 Dec 1953	7 Mar 1956 A
Yugoslavia³		12 Mar 2001 d

DECLARATIONS

Territorial Application


Participant	Date of receipt of the notification	Territories
Netherlands^8,	7 Jul 1955	Netherlands Antilles, Netherlands New Guinea, Surinam

NOTES

1. The amendments set forth in the Annex to the Protocol entered into force on 7 July 1955, in accordance with article III of the Protocol.

2. Official Records of the General Assembly, Eighth Session, Supplement No. 17 (A/2630), p. 50.

3. The former Yugoslavia had signed and accepted the Protocol on 11 February 1954 and 21 March 1955, respectively. See also notes 1 regarding "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

4. Signed and ratified on behalf of the Republic of China on 7 December 1953 and 14 December 1955, respectively. See note concerning signatures, ratifications, accessions, etc. on behalf of China (note 5 in chapter I.1).

5. On 10 June 1997, the Government of China notified the Secretary-General of the following:

[Same notification as the one made under note 6 in chapter V.3.]

In addition, the notification also contained the following declaration:

The Government of the People's Republic of China also declares that the signature and ratification by the Taiwan authorities in the name of China on 7 December 1953 and 14 December 1955 respectively of the [said Protocol] are all illegal and therefore null and void.

6. The German Democratic Republic had accepted the Protocol on 16 July 1974. See also note 15 in chapter I.2.

7. With the following declaration:

"The said Protocol shall also apply to Berlin (West) with effect from the date on which it enters into force for the Federal Republic of Germany."

In this connection, the Secretary-General received, on 4 December 1973 from the Permanent Mission of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the United Nations, the following communication:

The 1926 Slavery Convention, as amended by the 1953 Protocol, deals with matters relating to the territories under the sovereignty of the countries Parties to the Convention within the limits of which they exercise jurisdiction. As is well known, the western sector of Berlin is not an integral part of the Federal Republic of Germany and cannot be governed by it. In that connexion, the Soviet Union regards the above-mentioned statement by the Federal Republic of Germany as unlawful and as having no legal force, with all the consequences flowing therefrom, since the extension of the validity of the Convention to the Western Sector of Berlin raises questions relating to its status, thus conflict ing with the relevant provisions of the Quadripartite Agreement of 3 September 1971.

The Government of the German Democratic Republic, upon acceptance of the Protocol on 16 July 1974, made a declaration which is identical in essence to the above-quoted declaration.

The following communication on the same subject was received on 17 July 1974 from the Governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America:

"In a communication to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is an integral part (Annex IV A) of the Quadripartite Agreement of 3 September 1971, the Governments of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirmed that, provided that matters of security and status are not affected, international agreements and arrangements entered into by the Federal Republic of Germany may be extended to the Western Sectors of Berlin in accordance with established procedures. For its part, the Govern ment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, in a communica tion to the Governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States which is similarly an integral part (Annex IV B) of the Quadripartite Agreement of 3 September 1971, affirmed that it would raise no objection to such extension.

"The purpose and effect of the established procedures referred to above, which were specifically endorsed in Annex IV A and B to the Quadripartite Agreement, are precisely to ensure that agreements and arrangements to be extended to the Western Sectors of Berlin are extended in such a way that questions of security and status remain unaffected and to take account of the fact that these Sectors continue not to be a constituent part of the Federal Republic of Germany and not to be governed by it. The extension of the Convention of 1926, as amended by the Protocol of 1953, to the Western Sectors of Berlin received the prior authorization under these established procedures, of the authorities of France, the United Kingdom and the United States. The rights and responsibilities of the Governments of those three countries remain unaffected thereby. There is thus no question that the extension to the Western Sectors of Berlin of the Convention of 1926, as amended by the Protocol of 1953, is in any way inconsistent with the Quadripartite Agreement.

"Accordingly, the application to the Western Sectors of Berlin of the Convention of 1926, as amended by the Protocol of 1953, continues in full force and effect."

Subsequently, the Secretary-General received on 27 August 1974 from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany a declaration to the effect that the said Government shared the position set out in the above-quoted declaration, and that the extension of the Protocol to Berlin (West) would continue in full force and effect.

In reference to the declaration by the Government of the German Democratic Republic, communications were received by the Secretary-General from the Governments of France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America (8 July 1975) and from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (19 September 1975), which are identical in substance, mutatis mutandis, to the corresponding communications reproduced in note 5 in chapter III.3.

See also note 6.