States that did not sign the Protocol during the time when it was open for signature cannot ratify it — they may only accede to it. These States therefore deposit an instrument of accession in order to become a Party.
Note: These States have the same rights and obligations as those States that ratified the Protocol. Reproduction and Disclaimers. However, by signing the Convention or Optional Protocol, States or regional integration organizations indicate their intention to take steps to be bound by the treaty at a later date.
Signing also creates an obligation, in the period between signing and ratification or consent to be bound, to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the treaty. Heads of State, Heads of Government or Ministers for Foreign Affairs are empowered to sign a treaty on behalf of a State without having to produce full powers to that effect.
Other representatives intending to sign a treaty must have the appropriate full powers, issued by one of the above authorities, which expressly authorize signing the Convention or Optional Protocol by a named representative.
In order to become a party to the Convention and the Optional Protocol, a State must demonstrate, through a concrete act, its willingness to undertake the legal rights and obligations contained in these two instruments.
In other words, it must express its consent to be bound by the Convention and the Optional Protocol. Under the Convention and the Optional Protocol, States may express their consent to be bound in several ways:. Consent to be bound by the Convention and the Optional Protocol is the act whereby States demonstrate their willingness to undertake the legal obligations under the instruments.
The Convention and the Optional Protocol both provide for States to express their consent to be bound by signature, subject to ratification. Upon ratification at the international level, the State becomes legally bound by the treaty. Ratification at the international level should not be confused with ratification at the national level. At the national level, the State might have to ratify the treaty in accordance with its own constitutional or legal provisions before it expresses consent to be bound internationally.
For example, the constitution might require parliament to consider the terms of the Convention and decide on ratification prior to any action at the international level that would indicate that the State consents to be bound by the treaty.
That is why ratification at the international level is still necessary, regardless of national procedures. A State or regional integration organization may also express its consent to be bound by the Convention or the Optional Protocol by depositing an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Accession has the same legal effect as ratification; however, unlike ratification, which must be preceded by signing to create binding legal obligations under international law, accession requires only one step, namely, depositing the instrument of accession.
Signing also creates an obligation, in the period between signing and consent to be bound, to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the treaty. When a State wishes to ratify or accede to the Convention or Optional Protocol, or a regional integration organization wishes formally to confirm or accede, the State or regional integration organization must execute an instrument of ratification, formal confirmation or accession, signed by the Head of State, Head of Government or Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The instrument of ratification, formal confirmation or accession becomes effective only when the State or regional integration organization deposits it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
States or regional integration organizations should deliver such instruments to the Treaty Section of the United Nations to ensure the action is promptly processed. See contact details for the Treaty Section above. This will help ensure that the instrument is promptly processed. Parliaments have a key role to play in the ratification process. While a representative of the executive — Head of State, Head of Government or the Minister for Foreign Affairs — signs and ratifies treaties, in most countries, the ultimate decision on ratification rests with parliament, which must approve ratification.
This is certainly the case in countries with a civil-law tradition. The Convention on the Rights of the Child took effect on September 7, , when 20 countries, all of them members of the United Nations, ratified it. No other international treaty on human rights has provoked such a consensus on the part of governments. This means that of the sovereign and independent states represented by the United Nations, member nations the Cook Islands, Niue Island and the Vatican are not members signed the Convention and only two have not ratified it.
Despite having signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child on February 16, , the United States remains unbound by it to this day.
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