Art.21 Signature, Ratification, Acceptance, Approval, or Accession

Subject(s):

Human rights remedies — Arms control — International trade — Humanitarian intervention — Disarmament — International peace and security

This chapter discusses Article 21 of the ATT, which sets out the procedure by which states may sign or adhere to the treaty. Signature of the ATT was only possible until its entry into force (on 24 December 2014). Subsequently, any state that had not signed the treaty could accede to it. Signatories must ratify, accept, or approve the ATT in order to become party to it. Article 21 is linked to Article 22 (on entry into force) and Article 27 (the Depositary: the United Nations Secretary-General). A state may also apply Articles 6 and 7 of the treaty provisionally when signing, ratifying, accepting, approving, or acceding the ATT, in accordance with Article 23. It should be noted that the main substantive change to this provision during the negotiations was to prevent a state from acceding to the treaty prior to its entry into force.