Note: The Convention was opened for signature pursuant to resolution 1763 (XVII),¹ adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 7 November 1962.
 

PARTICIPANTS

DECLARATIONS

Bangladesh¹⁰

Articles 1 and 2:

"The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh reserves the right to apply the provisions of articles 1 and 2 in so far as they relate to the question of legal validity of child marriage, in accordance with the Personal Laws of different religious communities of the country.

Article 2:

The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, in acceding to the Convention will not be bound by the exception clause of article 2 viz. except where a competent authority has granted a dispensation as to age, for serious reasons, in the interest of the intending spouses".

Denmark

Dominican Republic

Fiji

"(a) paragraph 1 of Article 1, and the second sentence of Article 2, of the Convention are concerned with the entry into marriage under the laws of a State Party and not with the recognition under the laws of one State or territory of the validity of marriages contracted under the laws of another State or territory; and

"(b) paragraph 2 of Article 1 does not require legislative provision to be made where no such legislation already exists, for marriages to be contracted in the absence of one of the parties."

Finland

Greece

Guatemala

With regard to article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention, Guatemala declares that since its legislation, in respect of its nationals, does not call for the requirements relating to publicity of the marriage and the presence of witnesses for it to be solem- nized, it does not consider itself obliged to comply with those requirements where the parties are Guatemalans.

Hungary

Iceland

Netherlands

Norway

Philippines

"Considering the provisions of its Civil Code, the Philippines, in ratifying this Convention interprets the second paragraph of Article 1 (which authorizes, in exceptional cases, the solemnization of marriage by proxy) as not imposing upon the Philippines the obligation to allow within its territory the celebration of proxy marriages or marriages of the kind contemplated in that paragraph, where such manner of marriage is not authorized by the laws of the Philippines. Rather, the solemnization within Philippine territory of a marriage in the absence of one of the parties under the conditions stated in said paragraph will be permitted only if so allowed by Philippine law."

Romania

Romania will not apply the provisions of article 1, paragraph 2, of the Convention, regarding the celebration of marriage in the absence of one of the future spouses.

Sweden

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland⁹

"(b) It is the understanding of the Government of the United Kingdom that paragraph (1) of article 1 and the second sentence of article 2, of the Convention are concerned with entry into marriage under the laws of a State Party and not with the recognition under the laws of one State or territory of the validity of marriages contracted under the laws of another State or territory; nor is paragraph (1) of article 1 applicable to marriages by cohabitation with habit and repute under the law of Scotland;

"(c) Paragraph (2) of article 1 does not require legislative provision to be made, where no such legislation already exists, for marriages to be contracted in the absence of one of the parties;

"(d) The provisions of the Convention shall not apply to Southern Rhodesia unless and until the Government of the United Kingdom inform the Secretary-General that they are in a position to ensure that the obligations imposed by the Convention in respect of that territory can be fully implemented."

United States of America

Venezuela

Finland

With regard to the reservations made by Bangladesh upon accession:

" The Government of Finland notes that the reservation of Bangladesh, being of such a general nature, raises doubts as to the full commitment of Bangladesh to the object and purpose of the Convention and would like to recall that, according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of the Treaties, a reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention shall not be permitted.

Furthermore, reservations are subject to the general principle of treaty interpretation according to which a party may not invoke the provisions of its domestic law as justification for a failure to perform its treaty obligations.

Therefore the Government of Finland objects to the aforesaid reservations made by the Government of Bangladesh. This objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Convention between Bangladesh and Finland. The Convention will thus become operative between the two States without Bangladesh benefitting from this reservation".

Sweden

With regard to the reservations made by Bangladesh upon accession:

"The Government of Sweden notes that the reservations include a reservation of a general kind, in respect of articles 1 and 2, which reads as follows:

[See reservation to Articles 1 and 2 made by Bangladesh under "Reservations and Declarations ".]

The Government of Sweden is of the view that this general reservation, referring to the Personal Laws of different religious communities of the country, raises doubts as to the commitment of Bangladesh to the object and purpose of the Convention and would recall that, according to well-established international law, a reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of a treaty shall not be permitted.

It is in the common interest of States that treaties to which they have chosen to become parties are respected, as to their object and purpose, by all parties and that States are prepared to undertake any legislative changes necessary to comply with their obligations under these treaties.

The Government of Sweden therefore objects to the aforesaid general reservation made by the Government of Bangladesh to the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages.

This objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Convention between Bangladesh and Sweden. The Convention will thus become operative between the two States without Bangladesh benefitting from the reservation".

NOTES

1. Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventeenth Session, Supplement No. 17 (A-5217), p. 28.

2. Signed on behalf of the Republic of China on 4 April 1963. See note concerning signatures, ratifications, accessions, etc., on behalf of China (note 4 in chapter I.1).

3. On 10 June 1997, the Governments of China and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified the Secretary-General of the following:

China:

[Same notification as the one made under note 2 in chapter V.3.]

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

[Same notification as the one made under note 4 in chapter IV.1.]

In addition, the notification made by the Government of China contained the following declaration:

1. It is the understanding of the Government of the People's Republic of China that article 1 (2) of the [said Convention] does not require legislative provision to be made, where no such legislation already exists in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, for marriage to be contracted in the absence of one of the parties.

2. The signature by the Taiwan authorities of China on 4 April 1963 of the [said Convention] is illegal and null and void.

4. Czechoslovakia had signed and ratified the Convention on 8 October 1963 and 5 March 1965, respectively. See also note 11 in chapter I.2.

5. The German Democratic Republic had acceded to the Convention on 16 July 1974. See also note 14 in chapter I.2.

6. In a note accompanying the instrument of accession, the Govern- ment of the Federal Republic of Germany declared that the Convention "shall also apply to Land Berlin with effect from the date on which it enters into force for the Federal Republic of Germany".

With reference to the above-mentioned declaration, communications have been addressed to the Secretary-General by the Governments of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Those communications are identical in essence, mutatis mutandis, to those referred to in the second paragraph of note 4 in chapter III.3.

In this respect, the Government of the German Democratic Republic, upon accession to the Convention on 16 July 1974, made a declaration which is identical in essence, mutatis mutandis, to the one reproduced in the fourth paragraph of note 3 in chapter III.3.

In reference to that declaration, 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 essence, mutatis mutandis, to the corresponding communications reproduced in note 4 in chapter III.3.

Subsequently, in a communication received by the Secretary-General on 3 October 1990, the Government of Hungary indicated that, the German State having achieved its unity on this day (3 October 1990), it had decided to withdraw, as from that date, the declaration it had made with respect to the notification of extension by the Federal Republic of Germany to Land Berlin.

See also note 5.

7. The formality was effected by Democratic Yemen. See also note 33 in chapter I.2.

8. See note 8 in chapter I.1.

9. In a notification received on 15 October 1974, the Government of the United Kingdom informed the Secretary-General of the withdrawal of the reservation corresponding to sub-paragraph a, according to which it reserved the right to postpone the application of article 2 of the Convention to Montserrat pending notification to the Secretary-General that the said article would be applied there.

10. In this regard, the Secretary-General received the following communications on the dates indicated hereinafter:

Germany (17 December 1999):

"The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany notes that this constitutes a reservation of a general nature in respect of provisions of the Convention which may be contrary to the domestic law of Bangladesh. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is of the view that this general reservation raises doubts as to the full commitment of Bangladesh to the object and purpose of the Convention. In view of the fact that the Convention contains only ten short articles the reservation to one of its core principles seems particularly problematic. It is in the common interest of States that treaties to which they have chosen to become Parties are respected, as to their object and purpose, by all Parties and that States are prepared to undertake any legislative changes necessary to comply with their obligations under these treaties.

The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany therefore objects to this reservation made by the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. This objection does not preclude the entry into force of the Convention between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People's Republic of Bangladesh".

Netherlands (20 December 1999):

"The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands considers that such a reservation, which seeks to limit the responsibilities of the reserving State under the Convention by invoking national law, may raise doubts as to the commitment of this State to the object and purpose of the Convention and, moreover, contribute to undermining the basis of international treaty law.

It is in the common interest of States that treaties to which they have chosen to become parties should be respected, as to object and purpose, by all parties.

The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands therefore objects to the aforesaid reservation made by the Government of Bangladesh.

This objection shall not preclude the entry into force of the Convention between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Bangladesh."

11. The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 10 December 1962 and 19 June 1964, respectively. See also notes 1 regarding "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.