Status of the Watercourses Convention

as of 1 January 2020

Article 36(1) of the Convention provides that "The present Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations."

The Convention was opened for signature from 21 May 1997 through 21 May 2000.  States, however, may continue to ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Convention indefinitely. Note that a signature means that the signatory accepts the obligations of the treaty in principle but is bound only to not violate the object and purpose of the treaty. For a nation to be fully bound to a treaty, it must take the additional step of ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding (depending on its domestic legal process) to that instrument. The 35th ratification was received on 19 May 2014. The The Convention entered into into force on 17 August 2014, 90 days after that 35th ratification was deposited. In addition to the now 36 ratifications to the Convention, there are an additional 3 nations that had signed but not yet ratified the treaty.

PARTICIPANT	Signature (S)	Ratification (R)	Acceptance (A)	Accession (a)	Approval (AA)
Benin				5 July 2012
Burkina Faso				22 March 2011
Chad				26 September 2012
Côte d'Ivoire	25 September 1998	25 February 2014
Denmark				30 April 2012
Finland	31 October 1997		23 January 1998
France				24 February 2011
Germany	13 August 1998	15 January 2007
Greece				2 December 2010
Guinea-Bissau				19 May 2010
Hungary	20 July 1999				26 January 2000
Iraq				9 July 2001
Ireland				20 December 2013
Italy				30 November 2012
Jordan	17 April 1999	22 June 1999
Lebanon				25 May 1999
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya				14 June 2005
Luxembourg	14 October 1997	8 June 2012
Montenegro				24 September 2013
Morocco				13 April 2011
Namibia	19 May 2000	29 August 2001
Netherlands	9 March 2000		9 January 2001
Niger				20 February 2013
Nigeria		27 September 2010
Norway	30 September 1998	30 September 1998
"State of Palestine"				2 January 2015
Paraguay	25 August 1998
Portugal	11 November 1997	22 June 2005
Qatar				28 February 2002
South Africa	13 August 1997	26 October 1998
Spain				24 September 2009;
Sweden				15 June 2000
Syrian Arab Republic	11 August 1997	2 April 1998
Tunisia	19 May 2000	22 April 2009
United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland				13 December 2013
Uzbekistan				4 September 2007
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	22 September 1997
Vietnam				19 May 2014
Yemen	17 May 2000

 

DECLARATIONS AND RESERVATIONS  (Unless otherwise indicated, the declarations and reservations were made upon ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.)

Denmark - 30 April 2012

"Declaration: Until further notice, the Convention shall not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland."

Hungary

"Declaration: The Government of the Republic of Hungary declares itself bound by either of the two means for the settlement of disputes (International Court of Justice, arbitration), reserving its right to agree on the competent body of jurisdiction, as the case may be."

Montenegro

"Declaration: Montenegro declares that in respect of any dispute not resolved in accordance with Article 33 paragraph 2 of the said Convention, Montenegro recognizes as compulsory ipso facto, and without special agreement in relationship to any party accepting the same obligation:
1. Submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice; and/or
2. Arbitration by an arbitral tribunal established and operating, unless the parties to the dispute otherwise agreed, in accordance with the procedure laid down in the annex to the present Convention.”"

Netherlands - 17 February 2010

"Declaration: The Kingdom of the Netherlands declares, in accordance with paragraph 10 of Article 33 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, that it accepts both means of dispute settlement referred to in that paragraph as compulsory in relation to any Party accepting one or both means of dispute settlement."

Syrian Arab Republic

"Reservation: The acceptance by the Syrian Arab Republic of this Convention and its ratification by the Government shall not under any circumstances be taken to imply recognition of Israel and shall not lead to its entering into relations therewith that are governed by its provisions."

OBJECTIONS  (Unless otherwise indicated, the objections were made upon ratification, acceptance approval or accession.)

Israel - 15 July 1998

"Declaration: In regard to the reservation made by the Syrian Arab Republic upon ratification:
In view of the Government of the State of Israel such reservation, which is explicitly of a political nature, is incompatible with the purposes and objectives of this Convention and cannot in any way affect whatever obligations are binding upon the Syrian Arab Republic under general international treaty law or under particular conventions. The Government of the State of Israel will, in so far as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the Syrian Arab Republic an attitude of complete reciprocity."