Article 81

Signature

The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States Members of the United Nations or of any of the specialised agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and by any other State invited by the General Assembly of the United Nations to become a party to the Convention, as follows: until 30 November 1969, at the Federal Ministry for Foreign A airs of the Republic of Austria, and subsequently, until 30 April 1970, at United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Article 81 Signature

La présente Convention sera ouverte à la signature de tous les Etats Membres de l’Organisation des Nations Unies ou membres d’une institution spécialisée ou de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie atomique, ainsi que de tout Etat partie au Statut de la Cour internationale de Justice et de tout autre Etat invité par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies à devenir partie à la Convention, de la manière suivante: jusqu’au 30 novembre 1969 au Ministère fédéral des A aires étrangères de la République d’Autriche et ensuite jusqu’au 30 avril 1970 au Siège de l’Organisation des Nations Unies à New York.

Artikel 81 Unterzeichnung

Dieses Übereinkommen liegt für alle Mitgliedstaaten der Vereinten Nationen, einer ihrer Sonderorganisationen oder der Internationalen Atomenergie-Organisation, für Vertragsparteien des Statuts des Internationalen Gerichtshofs und für jeden anderen Staat, den die Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen einlädt, Vertragspartei des Übereinkommens zu werden, wie folgt zur Unterzeichnung auf: bis zum 30. November 1969 im Bundesministerium für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten der Republik Österreich und danach bis zum 30. April 1970 am Sitz der Vereinten Nationen in New York.

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article

Materials:

Minutes: OR 1969 CoW 310 ; OR 1969 Plenary 195 (Article A).

Vienna Conference Votes: Article 81: 84:11:5

Article 82: 103:0:0

Article 83: 83:13:6

Article 84: 92:0:8

Article 85: 103:0:0.

Selected Literature:

N. Burniat, Article 81, in: Corten/Klein (eds.) 2837 ; P.-H. Imbert, A l’occasion de l’entrée en vigueur de la Convention de Vienne sur le droit des traités. Réflexions sur la pratique suivie par le Secrétaire Général des Nations Unies dans l’exercice de ses fonctions de dépositaire, AFDI 26 (1980) 524 ; T. Treves, L’entrée en vigueur de la Convention des Nations Unies sur le droit de la mer et les conditions de son universalisme, AFDO 39 (1993) 850 .

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signature	981
CONTENTS
	Paras.
A. History of Articles 81–85 ................................................................	1
B. Interpretation of Article 81 ............................................................	3
C. Reservations .......................................................................................	5
D. Relationship to Other Provisions ..................................................	6
E. Appreciation .......................................................................................	7
A. HISTORY OF ARTICLES 81–85
Traditionally, the ILC does not propose final clauses in its drafts, and it did		1
not prepare any for the Convention.1 In 1969 at the Vienna Confernece,

the delegations of Brazil and the United Kingdom put forward the following proposals for Articles 81–85 (q.v.):2

Article A [later: Article 81]: Signature

The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States Members of the United Nations or of any of the specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and by any other State invited by the General Assembly of the United Nations to become a Party to the Convention, as follows: until 30 November 1969, at the Federal Ministry for Foreign A airs of the Republic of Austria, and subsequently, until 30 April 1970 at United Nations Headquarters, New York.

Article B [later: Article 82]: Ratification

The present Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article C [later: Article 83]: Accession

The present Convention shall remain open for accession by any State belonging to any of the four categories mentioned in article A. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the United Nations.

1See Eustathiades of the Greek delegation in Vienna, OR 1969 CoW, 326, para. 32 (“although certain provisions in a convention were called ‘final clauses’ because they appeared at the end of the text, they were a source of concern to all delegations from the very earliest

stage of drafting a convention”).

2OR Documents 253 f, reproducing also various further amendments. In the original version of the amendment, the following information was left blank: in Article A the dates within which the Convention remained open for signature; in Article D the number of instruments of ratification or accession required to bring the Convention into force; and in Article E the date upon which the Convention was done; see ibid. at n. 19.

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article

Article D [later: Article 84]: Entry into Force

1.The present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or accession.

2.For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention following the date of deposit of the forty-fifth instrument of ratification or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after deposit by such States (sic) of its instrument of ratification or accession.

Article E [later: Article 85]: Authentic texts

The original of the present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In witness whereof the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed the present Convention.

Done at Vienna, this twenty-third day of May, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine.

2The debate in Vienna in 1969 was again dominated by the “all States”-issue (N. 3) which threatened to call in question the Conference as a whole (Article 15—Declaration, N. 2; Preamble, N. 2). After various votes on numerous amendments, the proposal by Brazil and the United Kingdom (N. 1) was adopted, with some few changes, both in the Committee of the Whole and in Plenary.3

Article D (later: Article 84) concerning the number of States required for the Convention to enter into force also attracted some debate. Ghana and India proposed an amendment according to which para. 2 of Article D (Article 84) should envisage 35 instruments of ratification; this was eventually was adopted. A Swiss amendment proposing 60 instruments in both paras. 1 and 2 of Article D was later withdrawn.4

B. INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 81

3Article 81 concerns the signature of the present Convention, as explained in Article 12 (q.v.). Thus, the Convention shall be open for signature by all

3In the Committee of the Whole, the proposal by Brazil and the UK (N. 1) was adopted by 60 votes to 26, with 19 abstentions, OR 1969 CoW 343, para. 60; in the Plenary, Article 81 (A) was adopted by 84 votes to eleven, with five abstentions, OR 1969 Plenary 195, para. 90; Article 82 (B) by 103 votes to none, ibid.; Article 83 (C) by 83 votes to 13, with six abstentions, ibid. para. 92; Article 84 (D) by 92 votes to none, with eight abstentions, ibid. 197, para. 105 (in fact, the vote concerned an amendment lowering the number of States to 35; with its adoption it was considered that the Article itself had been adopted); and Article 85 (E) by 103 votes to none, ibid. The debates are at OR 1969 CoW 310 ; and OR 1969 Plenary 195 . On subsequent developments, see Aust, Modern Treaty Law

115 f.

4OR Documents 254 f; see the votes at OR 1969 CoW 341 (the withdrawal of the Swiss amendment is at ibid. 342, para. 51) and at OR Plenary 1969 196 f.

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States Members of the United Nations or of any of the specialised agencies
or of the International Atomic Energy Agency or parties to the Statute
of the International Court of Justice, and by any other State invited by
the General Assembly of the United Nations to become a party to the
Convention.
Article 81 reiterates the so-called “Vienna-formula” which circumscribes the participation
of States in the Convention.5 The formula was previously used in respect of other multi-
lateral treaties, inter alia, in 1961 for the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
and in 1963 for the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.6 The “Vienna-formula”
contrasted with the so-called “all States-formula” (or “Moscow-formula”) which opened
participation a priori to all States without further qualification.7
The Convention was open for signature as follows: until 30 November 1969,		4
at the Federal Ministry for Foreign A airs of the Republic of Austria,
and subsequently, until 30 April 1970, at United Nations Headquarters,
New York. The list of States having signed the Convention is reproduced in
Status of the Convention (q.v.). After 30 April 1970 States were and are free
to accede to the Convention according to Article 83 (q.v.).8
C. RESERVATIONS
Bulgaria, Mongolia and Syria formulated declarations relating to Articles 81 and		5
83 (q.v.), reflecting the heated debate in Vienna concerning the participation
of States in multilateral treaties (N. 2). These are reproduced in Reservations
and Declarations to the Convention and Objections Thereto (q.v.).

5 Th. Schweisfurth, International Treaties and Third States, ZaöRV 45 (1985) 667 .

6See the statementin Vienna by Sinclair of the UK delegation, OR 1969 CoW 313, para. 35

7See, e.g., the proposal in Vienna by Hungary, Poland, Romania and the then USSR, OR Documents 255, subpara. 144(d) (“[t]he present Convention shall be open for signature by all States”), rejected at OR 1969 CoW 341 f, para. 45, by 56 votes to 32, with 17 abstentions. The di erence concerned mainly the then “divided” States; see the statement by the delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany, criticising the “all-States formula”, at OR 1969 315, para. 52 (“[a]n entity which enjoyed certain attributes of a States (sic), but was not in fact recognized as a State, could not be considered in law as a State and could not claim to be treated as such, even if it alleged that it possessed the requisite legal personality within the meaning of sovereign State in international law”); the criticism by the delegate

of the then Byelorussian SSR, OR 21969 CoW 243, para. 7 (“discriminatory formula”). 8 Aust, Modern Treaty Law 98.

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article

D. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROVISIONS

6Article 81 (together with Articles 82–85, q.v.) is mentioned in the second preambular para. of the Declaration on Universal Participation in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Article 15—Declaration, N. 3) and in

Article 83 which refers to the “categories” of participating States (q.v., N. 2). The conditions of signing the Convention as in Article 81 are governed by

Article 12 (q.v.).

E. APPRECIATION

7There was in fact no great di erence between the “all States-formula” and the “Vienna-formula” (N. 2–3), since the latter envisaged the possibility of the General Assembly inviting any other States to participate in the Convention. In Vienna in 1969 the Committee of the Whole debated the matter heatedly over two full days, nearly destroying the entire project of codification.9 Today, it remains mainly of historical interest.

In the context of signature of the Convention (but also of ratification of and accession to the Convention), the issue arises whether these provisions can in fact govern the Convention itself. This study has argued that there is no logical paradox in the self-applicability of a treaty régime—in particular of Article 24, para. 4 (q.v., N. 12)—to its own rules, since self-regulatory e ects are practised in all treaties containing provisions, inter alia, on their own entry into force, etc. (Issues of Customary Law, N. 24–27).10

9T he debate lasted from Wednesday, 23 April at 11h00 until Friday, 25 April at 13h35. It concerned mainly Articles 81–85, but also, inter alia, issues of the non-retroactivity of treaties (Article 28, q.v.), though the debate on the “Vienna-formula” extended over the entire two days. See the the statement by Ago, President of the Conference, at OR 1969 Plenary 210, para. 83: “the previous day [21 May 1969] . . . with its morning hours when everything had seemed to be lost and its evening hours when those hopes which refused

to be dashed had been crowned with success”.

10See the statement in Vienna by the Expert Consultant, Sir Humphrey Waldock, OR 1968 CoW 140, para. 16 (“the source of the legal validity of the final clauses lay not in the treaty itself, but in the consent given when the text of the treaty was adopted”); contra Yasseen, ibid. para. 17 (“[t]he basis . . . was to be found in international custom”).

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Article 82

Ratification

The present Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article 82 Ratification

La présente Convention sera soumise à ratification. Les instruments de ratification seront déposés auprès du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies.

Artikel 82 Ratifikation

Dieses Übereinkommen bedarf der Ratifikation. Die Ratifikationsurkunden werden beim Generalsekretär der Vereinten Nationen hinterlegt.

Materials:

Minutes: OR 1969 CoW 310 ; OR 1969 Plenary 195 (Article B).

Vienna Conference Vote: 103:0:0

Selected Literature (in addition to the literature mentioned in Article 81, q.v.): N. Burniat, Article 82, in: Corten/Klein (eds.) 2853 f.

986	article
	CONTENTS
		Para.
A. History (see Article 81, N. 1–2)
B. Interpretation of Article 82 ...............................................................		1

A. HISTORY

(see Article 81, N. 1–2)

B.INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 82

1 Article 82 provides that the present Convention is subject to ratification, as explained in Article 14 (q.v.). The final date for signing the Convention at the United Nations Headquarters in New York was 30 April 1970 (Article 81,

N.4). Article 82 further states that the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, thus providing for the UN Secretary-General as depositary of the Convention in accordance with Article 80, para. 1 (q.v., N. 8).1 The role and functions of depositaries are explained in Articles 76–77 (q.v.).2 The list of States having ratified the Convention is reproduced in Status of the Convention (q.v.).

1 UNTS 1155 (1979) 331 .

2See Sh. Rosenne, More on the Depositary of International Treaties, AJIL 64 (1970) 850 .

Article 83

Accession

The present Convention shall remain open for accession by any State belonging to any of the categories mentioned in Article 81. The instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article 83 Adhésion

La présente Convention restera ouverte à l’adhésion de tout Etat appartenant à l’une des catégories mentionnées à l’article 81. Les instruments d’adhésion seront déposés auprès du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies.

Artikel 83 Beitritt

Dieses Übereinkommen steht jedem Staat zum Beitritt o en, der einer der in Artikel 81 bezeichneten Kategorien angehört. Die Beitrittsurkunden werden beim Generalsekretär der Vereinten Nationen hinterlegt.

Materials:

Minutes: OR 1969 CoW 310 ; OR 1969 Plenary 195 (Article C).

Vienna Conference Vote: 83:13:6

Selected Literature (in addition to the literature mentioned in Article 81, q.v.): N. Burniat, Article 83, in: Corten/Klein (eds.) 2857 f.

988	article
	CONTENTS
		Paras.
A. History (see Article 81, N. 1–2)
B. Interpretation of Article 83 ............................................................		1
C. Reservations (see Article 81, N. 5)
D. Relationship to Other Provisions ..................................................		4

A. HISTORY

(see Article 81, N. 1–2)

B. INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 83

1 Article 83 comes into play where the time-table set out in Article 81 (q.v., N. 4) ends, i.e., that the Convention may be signed until 30 November 1969 in Vienna and until 30 April 1970 in New York.1 Thereafter, as provided for by Article 83, the present Convention shall remain open for accession by any State, as explained in Article 15 (q.v.). Article 83 thus impliedly confirms the possibility of accession being authorised already before the treaty enters into force, as does Article 84, para. 1 (q.v., N. 1). The list of accessions to the Convention is reproduced in Status of the Convention (q.v.).

2Accession is possible for States belonging to any of the categories mentioned in Article 81 (q.v., N. 3). The debate in Vienna on Article 83 concerned mainly the so-called “Vienna-formula” (Article 81, N. 2). The categories of States mentioned are:

–all States Members of the United Nations;

–all States Members of any of the specialised UN agencies;

–all States members of the International Atomic Energy Agency;

–all States parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice; and

–any other State invited by the UN General Assembly to become a party to the Convention.

1 Aust, Modern Treaty Law 88.

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Finally, Article 83 provides that the instruments of accession shall be depos-		3
ited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, thus providing for the
UN Secretary-General as depositary of the Convention (Articles 76–77, q.v.).
As in Article 82 (q.v., N. 1), the UN Secretary-General is entrusted with
the depositary functions in respect of the Convention. The Convention was
published in the United Nations Treaty Series.2
C. RESERVATIONS
(see Article 81, N. 5)
D. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROVISIONS
Article 83 is mentioned in the second preambular para. of the Declaration on		4
Universal Participation in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Article
15—Declaration, N. 3). The conditions of acceding to the Convention as
provided for in Article 83 are governed by Article 15 (q.v.).

2 UNTS 1155 (1979) 331 .

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Article 84

Entry into force

1.The present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or accession.

2.For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification or accession.

Article 84 Entrée en vigueur

1.La présente Convention entrera en vigueur le trentième jour qui suivra la date du dépôt du trente-cinquième instrument de ratification ou d’adhésion.

2.Pour chacun des Etats qui ratifieront la Convention ou y adhéreront après le dépôt du trente-cinquième instrument de ratification ou d’adhésion, la Convention entrera en vigueur le trentième jour après le dépôt par cet Etat de son instrument de ratification ou d’adhésion.

Artikel 84 Inkrafttreten

1.Dieses Übereinkommen tritt am dreissigstenTag nach Hinterlegung der fünfunddreissigsten Ratifikationsoder Beitrittsurkunde in Kraft.

2.Für jeden Staat, der nach Hinterlegung der fünfunddreissigsten Ratifikationsoder Beitrittsurkunde das Übereinkommen ratifiziert oder ihm beitritt, tritt es am dreissigsten Tag nach Hinterlegung seiner eigenen Ratifikationsoder Beitritts-Urkunde in Kraft.

entry into force

991

Materials:

Minutes: OR 1969 CoW 310 ; OR 1969 Plenary 195 (Article D).

Vienna Conference Vote: adopted without dissent.

Selected Literature (in addition to the literature mentioned in Article 81, q.v.): C. Denis, Article 84, in: Corten/Klein (eds.) 2861 .

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	CONTENTS
		Para.
A. History (see Article 81, N. 1–2)
B. Interpretation of Article 84 ..............................................................		1

A. HISTORY

(see Article 81, N. 1–2)

B. INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 84

1 Article 84 provides in para. 1 that the present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following the date of deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or accession.1 The Convention entered into force on 27 January 1980. (Thus, Article 84 envisaged the possibility of accession already before the Convention entered into force.)2

The number of ratifications required for a treaty’s entry into force can be discussed from di erent points of view. In respect of the Convention, certain delegates at the 1969 Conference proposed a high threshold, fearing that a low number of ratifications could result in a fragmentation of treaty relations between States which had, and States which had not, ratified the Convention. Sinclair of the UK delegation considered that “the majority of countries participating in a conference convened to adopt a convention might not be bound by the Convention on the law of treaties, although a minority could be so bound as between themselves. There was no way of averting that situation, but its e ects would be lessened if the States bound by the Convention on the law of treaties were not a small minority but a substantial minority, even better a majority”.3

Fortunately, the status of the ILC Draft 1966 and the Convention qua customary law have rendered these fears obsolete (Issues of Customary International Law, N. 52–61).4 In Vienna, Sir Humphrey Waldock argued as Expert Consultant in this respect that

1Since States acceding to the Convention also counted for the Convention’s entry into force, it is doubtful whether one can speak of “a minimum number of the negotiating States”,

Aust, Modern Treaty Law 163.

2 See also Aust, ibid. 168 f; Sinclair, Vienna Convention 45; do Nascimento e Silva, RC( I) ; Imbert, AFDI 26 (1980) 524 .

3See the statement in Vienna by Sinclair of the UK delegation, OR 1969 CoW 314, para. 38; contra, Yasseen of the Iraqi delegation, ibid. 316, para. 63.

4See the reference to this situation—application of the Convention qua customary law before its application qua contractual obligation—in the context of Article 66 (q.v.) in the Armed

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entry into force	993
“the more a convention contained codifying elements, the less there was to the argument
that a large number of ratifications was needed to bring it into force. If, ex hypothesi,
it dealt with a law which was acceptable as general law, then the argument for a large
number of ratifications did not seem to be particular strong”.5
Para. 2 provides that for each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention		2
after the deposit of the thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or accession,

the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after deposit by such State of its instrument of ratification or accession. The list of ratifications of and accessions to the Convention is reproduced in Status of the Convention (q.v.).

Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo/Rwanda) Case, ICJ Reports 2006 44 f, para. 125.

5OR 1969 CoW 337 f, para. 82. See also the statement in Vienna by Blix of the Swedish delegation, ibid. 322, para. 47 (“[it was] most important that the Convention, if it was to produce practical results, should enter into force as soon as possible”).

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Article 85

Authentic texts

The original of the present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed the present Convention.

DONE at Vienna, this twenty-third day of May, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine.

Article 85 Textes authentiques

L’original de la présente Convention, dont les textes anglais, chinois, espagnol, français et russe sont également authentiques, sera déposé auprès du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies.

En foi de quoi les plénipotentiaires soussignés, dûment autorisés par leurs gouvernements respectifs, ont signé la présente Convention.

Fait à Vienne, le vingt-trois mai mille neuf cent soixante-neuf.

Artikel 85 Authentische Texte

Die Urschrift dieses Übereinkommens, dessen chinesischer, englischer, französischer, russischer und spanischer Wortlaut gleichermassen verbindlich ist, wird beim Generalsekretär der Vereinten Nationen hinterlegt.

Zu Urkund dessen haben die unterzeichneten, von ihren Regierungen hierzu gehörig befugten Bevollmächtigten dieses Übereinkommen unterschrieben.

Geschehen zu Wien am 23. Mai 1969.

authentic texts

995

Materials:

Minutes: OR 1969 CoW 310 ; OR 1969 Plenary 195 (Article E).

Vienna Conference Vote: 103:0:0

Selected Literature (in addition to the literature mentioned in Article 81, q.v.): C. Denis, Article 85, in: Corten/Klein (eds.) 2878 .

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	CONTENTS
		Para.
A. History (see Article 81, N. 1–2)
B. Interpretation of Article ..............................................................		1

A. HISTORY

(see Article 81, N. 1–2)

B. INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 85

1 The Vienna Conference adopted the Convention with its 85 articles within the meaning of Article 9 (q.v.) by 79 votes to one, with 19 abstentions, on 22 May 1969,1 and it was opened for signature on 23 May 1969 (N. 4). The Conference also adopted the Final Act of the Convention (q.v.)2 which is not, however, binding and can be qualified as a form of resolution.

The Final Act contains a summary description of the conference proceedings in Vienna in 1968 and 1969 (including participating States and international organisations) and refers to the various declarations and resolutions adopted by the Conference and appended to it, in particular:

–Resolution Relating to Article 1 (Article 1—Resolution, q.v.);

–Declaration on Universal Participation in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Article 15—Declaration, q.v.);

–Declaration on the Prohibition of Military, Political or Economic Coercion in the Conclusion of Treaties (Article 52—Declaration, q.v.);

–Resolution Relating to the Declaration on the Prohibition of Military, Political or Economic Coercion in the Conclusion of Treaties (Article 52—Resolution, q.v.);

–Annex to Article 66 (Article 66—Annex, q.v.);

–Resolution relating to Article 66 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the Annex thereto (Article 66—Resolution, q.v.);

1 OR 1969 Plenary 203 ; the vote is at 206 f, para. 51. France voted against the Convention (see on this Villiger, Customary International Law N. 456), the following States abstained:

Australia; Burma, the then Byelorussian SSR, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), then Czechoslovakia, Gabon, Hungary, Monaco, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, then Ukrainian SSR and USSR, and the United Arab Republic.

2 OR Documents 283 .

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authentic texts	997
– Tribute to the International Law Commission;
– Tribute to the Federal Government and people of the Republic of Austria.
Article 85 pronounces itself on the authentic texts and, therefore, the authen-		2
tification (Article 10, q.v.) of the present Convention. Thus, the five languages
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are equally authentic. The
original text of the Convention in these five languages shall be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations (Articles 76–77, q.v.).
The penultimate clause of the Convention provides that in witness whereof		3
the undersigned Plenipotentiaries (Article 7, q.v.), being duly autho-
rised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed the present
Convention.
According to the final sentence of the Convention, all this was done atVienna,		4
this twenty-third day of May, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine.
This date is also mentioned in the opening sentence of the Preamble (q.v.,
N. 6). There follow the signatures of various States, a list of which is repro-
duced in Status of the Convention (q.v.).

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