|
Signed
in Washington on December 1, 1959
It became effective on June 23, 1961 |
The
Governments of Argentina, Australia Belgium, Chile,
the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the
Union of South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland and the United States of America,
Recognizing
that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica
shall continue forever to be used exclusively for
peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or
object of international discord;
Acknowledge
the substantial contributions to scientific knowledge
resulting from international cooperation in scientific
investigation in Antarctica;
Convinced
that the establishment of a firm foundation for the
continuation and development of such cooperation on
the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in
Antarctica as applied during the International Geophysical
Year accords with the interests of science and the
progress of all mankind;
Convinced
also that a treaty ensuring the use of Antarctica
for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of
international harmony in Antarctica will further the
purposes and principles embodied in the Charter of
the United Nations;
Have
agreed as follows:
Article
I
| 1.
Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes
only. There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any
measures of a military nature, such as the establishment
of military bases and fortifications, the carrying
out of military maneuvers, as well as the testing
of any types of weapons.
2.
The present Treaty shall not prevent the use
of military personnel or equipment for scientific
research or for any other peaceful purpose. |
Article II
| Freedom
of scientific investigation in Antarctica and
co-operation toward that end, as applied during
the International Geophysical Year, shall continue,
subject to the provisions of the present Treaty. |
Article
III
|
1.
In order to promote international co-operation
in scientific investigation in Antarctica, as
provided for in Article II of the present Treaty,
the Contracting Parties agree that, to the greatest
extent feasible and practicable:
|
a)
information regarding plans for scientific
programs in Antarctica shall be exchanged
to permit maximum economy and efficiency
of operations;
b)
scientific personnel shall be exchanged
in Antarctica between expeditions and
stations;
c)
scientific observations and results from
Antarctica shall be exchanged and made
freely available. |
2.
In implementing this Article, every encouragement
shall be given to the establishment of co-operative
working relations with those Specialized Agencies
of the United Nations and other international
organizations having a scientific or technical
interest in Antarctica. |
Article
IV
|
1.
Nothing contained in the present Treaty shall
be interpreted as:
|
a)
a renunciation by any Contracting Party
of previously asserted rights of or claims
to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica;
b)
a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting
Party of any basis of claim to territorial
sovereignty in Antarctica which it may
have whether as a result of its activities
or those of its nationals in Antarctica,
or otherwise;
c)
prejudicing the position of any Contracting
Party as regards its recognition or non-recognition
of any other State's right of or claim
or basis of claim to territorial sovereignty
in Antarctica. |
2.
No acts or activities taking place while the
present Treaty is in force shall constitute
a basis for asserting, supporting or denying
a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica
or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica.
No new claim, or enlargement of an existing
claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica
shall be asserted while the present Treaty is
in force. |
Article
V
|
1.
Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the
disposal there of radioactive waste material
shall be prohibited.
2.
In the event of the conclusion of international
agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy,
including nuclear explosions and the disposal
of radioactive waste material, to which all
of the Contracting Parties whose representatives
are entitled to participate in the meetings
provided for under Article IX are parties the
rules established under such agreements shall
apply in Antarctica. |
Article VI
|
The
provisions of the present Treaty shall apply
to the area south of 60 degrees South Latitude,
including all ice shelves, but nothing in the
present Treaty shall prejudice or in any way
affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights,
of any State under international law with regard
to the high seas within that area. |
Article VII
|
1.
In order to promote the objectives and ensure
the observance of the provisions of the present
Treaty, each Contracting Party whose representatives
are entitled to participate in the meetings
referred to in Article IX of the Treaty shall
have the right to designate observers to carry
out any inspection provided for by the present
Article. Observers shall be nationals of the
Contracting Parties which designate them. The
names of observers shall be communicated to
every other Contracting Party having the right
to designate observers, and like notice shall
be given of the termination of their appointment.
2.
Each observer designated in accordance with
the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article
shall have complete freedom of access at any
time to any or all areas of Antarctica.
3.
All areas of Antarctica, including all stations
installations and equipment within those areas,
and all ships and aircraft at points of discharging
or embarking cargoes or personnel in Antarctica,
shall be open at all times to inspection by
any observers designated in accordance with
paragraph 1 of this article.
4.
Aerial observation may be carried out at any
time over any or all areas of Antarctica by
any of the Contracting Parties having the right
to designate observers.
5.
Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when
the present Treaty enters into force for it,
inform the other Contracting Parties, and thereafter
shall give them notice in advance, of
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a)
all expeditions to and within Antarctica,
on the part of its ships or nationals,
and all expeditions to Antarctica organized
in or proceeding from its territory;
b)
all stations in Antarctica occupied by
its nationals; and
c)
any military personnel or equipment intended
to be introduced by it into Antarctica
subject to the conditions prescribed in
paragraph 2 of Article I of the present
Treaty. |
|
Article VIII
|
1.
In order to facilitate the exercise of their
functions under the present Treaty, and without
prejudice to the respective positions of the
Contracting Parties relating to jurisdiction
over all other persons in Antarctica, observers
designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII
and scientific personnel exchanged under subparagraph
1 (b) of Article III of the Treaty, and members
of the staffs accompanying any such persons,
shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of
the Contracting Party of which they are nationals
in respect of all acts or omissions occurring
while they are in Antarctica for the purpose
of exercising their functions.
2.
Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph
1 of this Article, and pending the adoption
of measures In pursuance of subparagraph 1 (e)
of Article IX, the Contracting Parties concerned
in any case of dispute with regard to the exercise
of jurisdiction in Antarctica shall immediately
consult together with a view to reaching a mutually
acceptable solution. |
Article IX
1.
Representatives of the Contracting Parties named
in the preamble to the present Treaty shall meet
at the City of Canberra within two months after
the date of entry into force of the Treaty, and
thereafter at suitable intervals and places, for
the purpose of exchanging information, consulting
together on matters of common interest pertaining
to Antarctica, and formulating and considering,
and recommending to their Governments, measures
in furtherance of the principles and objectives
of the Treaty, including measures regarding:
| a)
use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes
only;
b) facilitation of scientific research in
Antarctica;
c) facilitation of international scientific
cooperation in Antarctica; d) facilitation
of the exercise of the rights of inspection
provided for in Article VII of the Treaty;
e) questions relating to the exercise of
jurisdiction in Antarctica; f) preservation
and conservation of living resources in
Antarctica. |
2.
Each Contracting Party which has become a party
to the present Treaty by accession under Article
XIII shall be entitled to appoint representatives
to participate in the meetings referred to in
paragraph 1 of the present Article, during such
time as that Contracting Party demonstrates
its interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial
scientific research activity there, such as
the establishment of a scientific station or
the despatch of a scientific expedition.
3.
Reports from the observers referred to in Article
VII of the present Treaty shall be transmitted
to the representatives of the Contracting Parties
participating in the meetings referred to in
paragraph 1 of the present Article.
4.
The measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this
Article shall become effective when approved
by all the Contracting Parties whose representatives
were entitled to participate in the meetings
held to consider those measures.
5.
Any or all of the rights established in the
present Treaty may be exercised as from the
date of entry into force of the Treaty whether
or not any measures facilitating the exercise
of such rights have been proposed, considered
or approved as provided in this Article. |
Article
X
|
Each
of the Contracting Parties undertakes to exert
appropriate efforts consistent with the Charter
of the United Nations, to the end that no one
engages in any activity in Antarctica contrary
to the principles or purposes of the present
Treaty. |
Article
XI
|
1.
If any dispute arises between two or more of
the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation
or application of the present Treaty, those
Contracting Parties shall consult among themselves
with a view to having the dispute resolved by
negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation,
arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful
means of their own choice.
2.
Any dispute of this character not so resolved
shall, with the consent, in each case, of all
parties to the dispute, be referred to the International
Court of Justice for settlement; but failure
to reach agreement or reference to the International
Court shall not absolve parties to the dispute
from the responsibility of continuing to seek
to resolve it by any of the various peaceful
means referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. |
Article
XII
1.
|
a)
The present Treaty may be modified or
amended at any time by unanimous agreement
of the Contracting Parties whose representatives
are entitled to participate in the meeting
provided for under Article IX. Any such
modification or amendment shall enter
into force when the depositary Government
has received notice from all such contracting
Parties that they have ratified it.
b)
Such modification or amendment shall thereafter
enter into force as to any other Contracting
Policy when notice of ratification by
it has been received by the depositary
Government. Any such Contracting Party
from which no notice of ratification is
received within a period of two years
from the date of entry into force of the
modification or amendment in accordance
with the provisions of subparagraph 1
(a) of this Article shall be deemed to
have withdrawn from the present Treaty
on the date of the expiration of such
period. |
2.
|
a)
If after the expiration of thirty years
from the date of entry into force of the
present Treaty, any of the Contracting
Parties whose representatives are entitled
to participate in the meetings provided
for under Article IX so requests by a
communication addressed to the depositary
Government, a Conference of all the Contracting
Parties shall be held as soon as practicable
to review the operation of the Treaty.
b)
Any modification or amendment to the present
Treaty which is approved at such a Conference
by a majority of the Contracting Parties
there represented, including a majority
of those whose representatives are entitled
to participate in the meetings provided
for under Article IX, shall be communicated
by the depositary Government to all the
Contracting Parties immediately after
the termination of the Conference and
shall enter into force in accordance with
the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present
Article.
c)
If any such modification or amendment
has not entered into force in accordance
with the provisions of subparagraph 1
(a) of this Article within a period of
two years after the date of its communication
to all the Contracting Parties, any Contracting
Party may at any time after the expiration
of that period give notice to the depositary
Government of its withdrawal from the
present Treaty, and such withdrawal shall
take effect two years after the receipt
of the notice by the depositary Government. |
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Article
XIII
|
1.
The present Treaty shall be subject to ratification
by the signatory States. It shall be open for
accession by any State which is a Member of
the United Nations, or by any other State which
may be invited to accede to the Treaty with
the consent of all the Contracting Parties whose
representatives are entitled to participate
in the meetings provided for under Article IX
of the Treaty.
2.
Ratification of or accession to the present
Treaty shall be effected by each State in accordance
with its constitutional processes.
3.
Instruments of ratification and instruments
of accession shall be deposited with the Government
of the United States of America, hereby designated
as the depositary Government.
4.
The depositary Government shall inform all signatory
and acceding States of the date of each deposit
of an instrument of ratification or accession,
and the date of entry into force of the Treaty
and of any modification or amendment thereto.
5.
Upon the deposit of instruments of ratification
by all the signatory States, the present Treaty
shall enter into force for these States and
for States which have deposited instruments
of accession. Thereafter the Treaty shall enter
into force for any acceding State upon the deposit
of its instruments of accession.
6.
The present Treaty shall be registered by the
depositary Government pursuant to Article 102
of the Charter of the United Nations. |
Article
XIV
|
The
present Treaty, done in the English, French,
Russian and Spanish languages, each version
being equally authentic, shall be deposited
in the archives of the Government of the United
States of America, which shall transmit duly
certified copies thereof to the Governments
of the signatory and acceding States. |
In
Witness Whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries,
duly authorized, have signed the present Treaty.
Done
at Washington this first day of December, one
thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine. |
