Signature

Pursuant to Article 15, the Convention was opened for signature by all States from 3 December 2008 until its entry into force on 1 August.

Please note that the Convention is now closed for signature.

How to become a party to the Convention

Pursuant to Article 16, the Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by the Signatories. Any State which has not signed this Convention may accede to it.

To become a party to the Convention the State concerned shall formally declare its consent to be bound by it in accordance with its constitutional arrangements for adherence to an international agreement. These constitutional arrangements generally require domestic action by the national parliament. Once the domestic requirements have been completed, an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession must be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his capacity as the Convention’s depositary.

Pursuant to Article 17, paragraph 2, the Convention shall enter into force for that State on the first day of the sixth month after the date on which that State has deposited its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. However, any State may at the time of its ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, declare according to Article 18 that it will apply provisionally Article 1 of this Convention pending its entry into force.

The Articles of the Convention are not subject to reservations.

ICRC, in cooperation with the United Nations, have developed a CCM Ratification Kit. The Ratification Kit contains a short description of the main obligations of the States parties in implementing the Convention, as well as a model instruments of accession to the Convention. The text of the CCM Ratification Kit is available for download in the six official UN languages:  عربي, 中文, English, Français, русский, Español.

For more information, please contact the CCM Secretariat with the Office for Disarmament Affairs (Geneva branch), e-mail: ccm@un.org; or to Treaty Section, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, e-mail: treaty@un.org.