Section 157p. 157

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME I

and with decisions of the Preparatory Commission taken

pursuant to that resolution.

Article 309. Reservations and exceptions

No reservations or exceptions may be made to this

Convention unless expressly permitted by other articles of

this Convention.

Article 310. Declarations and statements

Article 309 does not preclude a State, when signing,

ratifying or acceding to this Convention, from making

declarations or statements, however phrased or named,

with a view, inter alia , to the harmonization of its laws and

regulations

with

the

provisions

of

this

Convention,

provided that such declarations or statements do not

purport to exclude or to modify the legal effect of the

provisions of this Convention in their application to that

State.

Article

311.

Relation

to

other

conventions

and

international agreements

1. This Convention shall prevail, as between States Parties,

over the Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea of 29

April 1958.

2.

This

Convention

shall

not

alter

the

rights

and

obligations of States Parties which arise from other

agreements compatible with this Convention and which

do not affect the enjoyment by other States Parties of

their rights or the performance of their obligations under

this Convention.

3. Two or more States Parties may conclude agreements

modifying or suspending the operation of provisions of

this

Convention,

applicable

solely

to

the

relations

between them, provided that such agreements do not

relate

to

a

provision

derogation

from

which

is

incompatible with the effective execution of the object

and purpose of this Convention, and provided further that

such agreements shall not affect the application of the

basic principles embodied herein, and that the provisions

of such agreements do not affect the enjoyment by other

States Parties of their rights or the performance of their

obligations under this Convention.

4. States Parties intending to conclude an agreement

referred to in paragraph 3 shall notify the other States

Parties through the depositary of this Convention of their

intention

to

conclude

the

agreement

and

of

the

modification or suspension for which it provides.

5. This article does not affect international agreements

expressly permitted or preserved by other articles of this

Convention.

6.

States

Parties

agree

that

there

shall

be

no

amendments

to

the

basic

principle

relating

to the

common heritage of mankind set forth in article 136 and

that

they

shall

not

be

party

to any agreement in

derogation thereof.

Article 312. Amendment

1. After the expiry of a period of 10 years from the date of

entry into force of this Convention, a State Party may, by

written

communication

addressed

to

the

Secretary-General of the United Nations, propose specific

amendments

to

this

Convention,

other

than

those

relating

to

activities

in

the

Area,

and

request

the

convening of a conference to consider such proposed

amendments. The Secretary-General shall circulate such

communication to all States Parties. If, within 12 months

from the date of the circulation of the communication,

not

less

than

one

half

of

the

States

Parties

reply

favourably to the request, the Secretary-General shall

convene the conference.

2.

The

decision-making

procedure applicable at the

amendment

conference

shall

be

the

same

as that

applicable at the Third United Nations Conference on the

Law

of

the

Sea

unless

otherwise

decided

by

the

conference. The conference should make every effort to

reach

agreement

on

any

amendments

by

way

of

consensus and there should be no voting on them until

all efforts at consensus have been exhausted.

Article 313. Amendment by simplified procedure

1.

A

State

Party

may,

by

written

communication

addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,

propose an amendment to this Convention, other than an

amendment relating to activities in the Area, to be

adopted by the simplified procedure set forth in this

article

without

convening

a

conference.

The

Secretary-General shall circulate the communication to

all States Parties.

2. If, within a period of 12 months from the date of the

circulation of the communication, a State Party objects to

the proposed amendment or to the proposal for its

adoption by the simplified procedure, the amendment

shall be considered rejected. The Secretary-General shall

immediately notify all States Parties accordingly.

3. If, 12 months from the date of the circulation of the

communication, no State Party has objected to the

proposed amendment or to the proposal for its adoption

by the simplified procedure, the proposed amendment

shall be considered adopted. The Secretary-General shall

notify all States Parties that the proposed amendment

has been adopted.

Article

314.

Amendments

to

the

provisions

of

this

Convention relating exclusively to activities in the Area

1.

A

State

Party

may,

by

written

communication

addressed to the Secretary-General of the Authority,

propose

an

amendment

to

the

provisions

of

this

Convention relating exclusively to activities in the Area,

including Annex VI, section 4. The Secretary-General shall

circulate such communication to all States Parties. The

proposed amendment shall be subject to approval by the

Assembly

following

its

approval

by

the

Council.

Representatives of States Parties in those organs shall

have full powers to consider and approve the proposed

amendment. The proposed amendment as approved by

the

Council

and

the

Assembly

shall

be

considered

adopted.

2. Before approving any amendment under paragraph 1,

the Council and the Assembly shall ensure that it does

not

prejudice

the

system

of

exploration

for

and

exploitation of the resources of the Area, pending the

Review Conference in accordance with article 155.

Article 315. Signature, ratification of, accession to and

authentic texts of amendments

1. Once adopted, amendments to this Convention shall be

open for signature by States Parties for 12 months from

the date of adoption, at United Nations Headquarters in

New York, unless otherwise provided in the amendment

itself.

2. Articles 306, 307 and 320 apply to all amendments to

this Convention.

Article 316. Entry into force of amendments

1. Amendments to this Convention, other than those

referred to in paragraph 5, shall enter into force for the

States Parties ratifying or acceding to them on the

thirtieth day following the deposit of instruments of

ratification or accession by two thirds of the States Parties

or

by

60

States Parties, whichever is greater. Such

amendments shall not affect the enjoyment by other

States Parties of their rights or the performance of their

obligations under this Convention.

2. An amendment may provide that a larger number of

ratifications or accessions shall be required for its entry

into force than are required by this article.

3. For each State Party ratifying or acceding to an

amendment referred to in paragraph 1 after the deposit

of the required number of instruments of ratification or

accession, the amendment shall enter into force on the

thirtieth day following the deposit of its instrument of

ratification or accession.

© Compiled by RGL

157 of 192