Article 50

OTHER RESERVATIONS

1. No reservations other than those made in accordance with article 49 or with the following paragraphs shall be permitted.

2. Any State may at the time of signature, ratification or accession make reservations in respect of the following provisions of this Convention: article 12, paragraphs 2 and 3; article 13, paragraph 2; article 14, paragraphs 1 and 2; article 31, paragraph 1 (b), and article 48.

3. A State which desires to become a Party but wishes to be authorized to make reservations other than those made in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article or with article 49 may inform the Secretary-General of such intention. Unless by the end of twelve months after the date of the Secretary-General's communication of the reservation concerned, this reservation has been objected to by one third of the States that have ratified or acceded to this Convention before the end of that period, it shall be deemed to be permitted, it being understood however that States which have objected to the reservation need not assume towards the reserving State any legal obligation under this Convention which is affected by the reservation.

4. A State which has made reservations may at any time by notification in writing withdraw all or part of its reservations.

Commentary

1. Paragraph 1 prohibits all reservations other than those specifically authorized by article 49 or article 50, paragraph 2, or those which may be authorized by the operation of the procedure of article 50, paragraph 3 in respect of any provision of the Single Convention whose nature renders it possible to make it the subject of a reservation. The reservations authorized by article 49 differ from those of article 50, paragraph 2 not only by the fact that they affect different provisions of the treaty, but also because a maximum time limit is prescribed for them by the Convention itself, and because they are also subject to particular restrictions,' while reservations pursuant to article 50, paragraph 2, are not subject to such a limitation and such restrictions under the terms of the treaty itself. The text of a reservation under article 50, paragraph 2, may, however, set a limit to its duration and may also subject it to other restrictions.

2. Of the provisions on which a reservation may be made pursuant to article 50, paragraph 2, article 48 deals with the settlement of disputes on the interpretation or application of the Convention, and in particular also with the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the case of such disputes, 2 while the other provisions require their application to non-Parties by the Board or by Parties, as the case may be.

3. By operation of article 50, paragraph 3, a Party may reserve the right to permit the non-medical uses as provided in article 49, paragraph 1, of the drugs mentioned therein, but also non-medical uses of other drugs, without being subject to the time limits and restrictions provided for in article 49. Such reservations would be "reservations other than those made in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article or with article 49." 3

4. A State which has already become a Party by ratification or accession may not resort to the procedure of article 50, paragraph 3; 4 a State which has only signed the Convention may do so. 5

5. A State which desires to become a Party with a reservation which requires authorization by the procedure of paragraph 3 must inform the Secretary-General of this desire in writing.

6. The question arises whether the date after which the twelve-month period for making objections commences to run is the date of dispatch of the Secretary-General's notification concerning the desired reservation, or the date indicated on the document as that on which it was signed or drawn up. The word "communication" may refer either to the act of transmitting the information, to what is communicated or imparted, or even to the letter or note containing the message. 6 In order to avoid any difficulties which may result from this ambiguity, it is suggested that the Secretary-General should indicate the date of dispatch as the date of the document by which he communicates the information on the desired reservation, and that he should mail all documents referring to the same reservation on the same day.

7. Objections must be made in writing and addressed to the SecretaryGeneral. An objection is made in time if it is either dispatched by the objecting State by mail or transmitted by messenger to the Secretary-General by the last day of the twelve-month period. If sent by mail, the communication containing the objection should be registered and a return receipt requested.

8. A reservation which has not been objected to by one third of the States which have ratified or acceded to the Convention before the end of the twelve-month period is not yet made, but only "deemed to be permitted". It must be made at the time of ratification or accession. 7 A State is not required to make a reservation which it has been authorized to make by the procedure of article 50, paragraph 3. It may accept the treaty without such reservation.

9. The understanding mentioned in paragraph 3 of article 50 that States which have objected to the reservation "need not assume towards the reserving State any legal obligation under this Convention which is affected by the reservation" appears to be in accord with the provision of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which determines the legal position of a State which has objected to a reservation, but has not opposed the entry into force of the treaty between itself and the reserving State, by stipulating that "the provisions to which the reservation relates do not apply as between the two States to the extent of the reservation." 8 Paragraph 3 of article 50 does not state whether the objecting State has the option of precluding the entry into force of the Single Convention as between itself and the reserving State. 9

10. A State which has made a reservation may at any time partially withdraw it so as to increase its legal burden in implementing the Single Convention. 10

1 Article 49, paras. 3 and 4.

2 As regards the question whether article 48, para. 2, provides for compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, see above, comments on article 48.

3 Or under the Spanish text "reservas distintas de las mencionadas en el inciso 2 del presente articulo o en el articulo 49"; see general comments on article 49 and Records, vol. I, pp. 184 and 185.

4 Records, vol. I, p. 183.

5 The period during which signing of the Convention was permitted ended, according to article 40, para. 1, on 1 August 1961.

6 Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, Springfield, Massachusetts, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, 1954, p. 541 and Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, same place of publication, same publisher, 1961, p. 460.

7 Article 19, introductory paragraph of the Vienna Convention of 1969 on the Law of Treaties, document A/CONF.39/27. A reservation authorized by the procedure of article 50, para. 3 could also have been made at the time of signature, but the period for signing the Single Convention has expired, and no State resorted to the procedure of article 50, para. 3, before its signature; see foot-note 5 above.

8 Article 21, para. 3; see reference to the Vienna Convention in the preceding foot-note.

9 See article 20, para. 4, subpara. (b) of the Vienna Convention.

10 See also above, comments on article 49, para. 5.