PART
V
Article
26
1. The present Covenant is open for
signature by any State Member of the United Nations or member of any of its
specialized agencies, by any State Party to the Statute of the International
Court of Justice, and by any other State which has been invited by the General
Assembly of the United Nations to become a party to the present Covenant.
2. The present Covenant is subject
to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. The present Covenant shall be
open to accession by any State referred to in paragraph 1 of this article.
4. Accession shall be effected by
the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the
United Nations.
5. The Secretary-General of the
United Nations shall inform all States which have signed the present Covenant
or acceded to it of the deposit of each instrument of ratification or accession.
Article 27
1. The present Covenant shall enter
into force three months after the date of the deposit with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations of the thirty-fifth instrument of
ratification or instrument of accession.
2. For each State ratifying the
present Covenant or acceding to it after the deposit of the thirty-fifth
instrument of ratification or instrument of accession, the present Covenant
shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of its own
instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
Article 28
The provisions of the present
Covenant shall extend to all parts of federal States without any limitations or
exceptions.
Article 29
1. Any State Party to the present
Covenant may propose an amendment and file it with the Secretary-General of the
United Nations. The Secretary-General shall thereupon communicate any proposed
amendments to the States Parties to the present Covenant with a request that
they notify him whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the
purpose of considering and voting upon the proposals. In the event that at
least one third of the States Parties favours such a conference, the
Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the United
Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of the States Parties present and
voting at the conference shall be submitted to the General Assembly of the
United Nations for approval.
2. Amendments shall come into force
when they have been approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations and
accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties to the present Covenant
in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.
3. When amendments come into force
they shall be binding on those States Parties which have accepted them, other
States Parties still being bound by the provisions of the present Covenant and
any earlier amendment which they have accepted.
Article 30
Irrespective of the notifications
made under article 26, paragraph 5, the Secretary-General of the United Nations
shall inform all States referred to in paragraph I of the same article of the
following particulars:
(a) Signatures, ratifications and
accessions under article 26;
(b) The date of the entry into force
of the present Covenant under article 27 and the date of the entry into force
of any amendments under article 29.
Article 31
1. The present Covenant, of which
the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic,
shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the
United Nations shall transmit certified copies of the present Covenant to all
States referred to in article 26.