parties which have declared themselves prepared to ratify the con- vention, with a view to deciding whether it shall be put into force. Ratifications to be The ratifications shall be deposited at Brussels at a date to be fixed deposited at Brussels; First deposit of rati- by agreement among the said governments. The first deposit of fications. ratifications shall be recorded in a proces-verbal signed by the repre- sentatives of the powers which take part therein and by the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Subsequent de- The subsequent deposits of ratifications shall be made by means posits. of a written notification, addressed to the Belgian Government and accompanied by the instrument of ratification. TransmittalybyBel- A duly certified copy of the proces-verbal relating to the first gian Government, of certified copy of pro- deposit of ratifications, of the notifications referred to in the previous ces-verbal and instru- ments of atification paragraph, and also of the instruments of ratification accompanying powers.'"Y' et e , them, shall be immediately sent by the Belgian Government through the diplomatic channel to the powers who have signed this convention or who have acceded to it. In the 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 12 Accessions by non- signatory States. Nonsignatory 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 acces- sion, 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. ARTICLE 13 Eaclusion ofdomin- The high contracting parties may at the time of signature, ratifica- ronl prieolsnis etc. tion, or accession declare that their acceptance of the present conven- tion does not include any or all of the self-governing dominions, or of the colonies, overseas possessions, protectorates, or territories under Separate accessions, 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. Denunciation. 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. ARTICLE 14 Effective dates. 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 proces-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 254 TREATIES
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