Considering that under the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25
September 1926 (hereinafter called "the Convention") the League
of Nations was invested with certain duties and functions, and
Considering that it is expedient that these duties and functions should
be continued by the United Nations,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
The States Parties to the present Protocol undertake that as between
themselves they will, in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol,
attribute full legal force and effect to and duly apply the amendments
to the Convention set forth in the annex to the Protocol.
Article 2
1. The present Protocol shall be open for signature or acceptance by
any of the States Parties to the Convention to which the Secretary-General
has communicated for this purpose a copy of the Protocol.
2. States may become Parties to the present Protocol by:
(a) Signature without reservation as to acceptance;
(b) Signature with reservation as to acceptance, followed by acceptance;
(c) Acceptance.
3. Acceptance shall be effected by the deposit of a formal instrument
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Article 3
1. The present Protocol shall come into force on the date on which two
States shall have become Parties thereto, and shall thereafter come into
force in respect of each State upon the date on which it becomes a Party
to the Protocol.
2. The amendments set forth in the annex to the present Protocol shall
come into force when twenty-three States shall have become Parties to the
Protocol, and consequently any State becoming a Party to the Convention,
after the amendments thereto have come into force, shall become a Party
to the Convention as so amended.
Article 4
In accordance with paragraph I of Article 102 of the Charter of the
United Nations and the regulations pursuant thereto adopted by the General
Assembly, the Secretary-General of the United Nations is authorized to
effect registration of the present Protocol and of the amendments made
in the Convention by the Protocol on the respective dates of their entry
into force and to publish the Protocol and the amended text of the Convention
as soon as possible after registration.
Article 5
The present Protocol, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian
and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives
of the United Nations Secretariat. The texts of the Convention to be amended
in accordance with the annex being authentic in the English and French
languages only, the English and French texts of the annex shall be equally
authentic, and the Chinese, Russian and Spanish texts shall be translations.
The Secretary-General shall prepare certified copies of the Protocol, including
the annex, for communication to States Parties to the Convention, as well
as to all other States Members of the United Nations. He shall likewise
prepare for communication to States including States not Members of the
United Nations, upon the entry into force of the amendments as provided
in article III, certified copies of the Convention as so amended.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto by
their respective Governments, signed the present Protocol on the date appearing
opposite their respective signatures.
DONE at the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, this seventh
day of December one thousand nine hundred and fifty-three.
Annex to the Protocol amending the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva
on 25 September 1926
In article 7 "the Secretary-General of the United Nations"
shall be substituted for "the Secretary-General of the League of Nations".
In article 8 "the International Court of Justice" shall be
substituted for the "Permanent Court of International Justice",
and "the Statute of the International Court of Justice" shall
be substituted for"the Protocol of December 16th, 1920, relating to
the Permanent Court of International Justice".
In the first and second paragraphs of article 10 "the United Nations"
shall be substituted for "the League of Nations".
The last three paragraphs of article 11 shall be deleted and the following
substituted:
"The present Convention shall be open to accession by all States,
including States which are not Members of the United Nations, to which
the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall have communicated a certified
copy of the Convention.
"Accession shall be effected by the deposit of a formal instrument
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall give notice
thereof to all States Parties to the Convention and to all other States
contemplated in the present article, informing them of the date on which
each such instrument of accession was received in deposit."
In article 12 "the United Nations" shall be substituted for
"the League of Nations".