The Governments represented in the Seventh International
Conference of American States:
Wishing to conclude a Convention on Rights and Duties of States,
have appointed the following Plenipotentiaries:
Who, after having exhibited their Full Powers, which were found
to be in good and due order, have agreed upon the following:
ARTICLE 1The
state as a person of international law should possess the
following qualifications: a ) a permanent population; b ) a
defined territory; c ) government; and d) capacity to enter into
relations with the other states.
ARTICLE 2The federal state shall constitute a sole
person in the eyes of international law.
ARTICLE 3The political existence of the state is
independent of recognition by the other states. Even before
recognition the state has the right to defend its integrity and
independence, to provide for its conservation and prosperity,
and consequently to organize itself as it sees fit, to legislate
upon its interests, administer its services, and to define the
jurisdiction and competence of its courts.
The exercise of these rights has no other limitation than the
exercise of the rights of other states according to
international law.
ARTICLE 4States are juridically equal, enjoy the same
rights, and have equal capacity in their exercise. The rights of
each one do not depend upon the power which it possesses to
assure its exercise, but upon the simple fact of its existence
as a person under international law.
ARTICLE 5The fundamental rights of states are not
susceptible of being affected in any manner whatsoever.
ARTICLE 6The recognition of a state merely signifies
that the state which recognizes it accepts the personality of
the other with all the rights and duties determined by
international law. Recognition is unconditional and irrevocable.
ARTICLE 7The recognition of a state may be express or
tacit. The latter results from any act which implies the
intention of recognizing the new state.
ARTICLE 8No state has the right to intervene in the
internal or external affairs of another.
ARTICLE 9The jurisdiction of states within the limits
of national territory applies to all the inhabitants.
Nationals and foreigners are under the same protection of the
law and the national authorities and the foreigners may not
claim rights other or more extensive than those of the
nationals.
ARTICLE 10The
primary interest of states is the conservation of peace.
Differences of any nature which arise between them should be
settled by recognized pacific methods.
ARTICLE 11The contracting states definitely establish
as the rule of their conduct the precise obligation not to
recognize territorial acquisitions or special advantages which
have been obtained by force whether this consists in the
employment of arms, in threatening diplomatic representations,
or in any other effective coercive measure. The territory of a
state is inviolable and may not be the object of military
occupation nor of other measures of force imposed by another
state directly or indirectly or for any motive whatever even
temporarily.
ARTICLE 12
The present Convention shall not affect obligations previously
entered into by the High Contracting Parties by virtue of
international agreements.
ARTICLE 13The present Convention shall be ratified by
the High Contracting Parties in conformity with their respective
constitutional procedures. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Uruguay shall transmit authentic certified
copies to the governments for the aforementioned purpose of
ratification. The instrument of ratification shall be deposited
in the archives of the Pan American Union in Washington, which
shall notify the signatory governments of said deposit. Such
notification shall be considered as an exchange of
ratifications.
ARTICLE
14The present Convention will enter into force
between the High Contracting Parties in the order in which they
deposit their respective ratifications.
ARTICLE 15The present Convention shall remain in
force indefinitely but may be denounced by means of one year's
notice given to the Pan American Union, which shall transmit it
to the other signatory governments. After the expiration of this
period the Convention shall cease in its effects as regards the
party which denounces but shall remain in effect for the
remaining High Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE 16The
present Convention shall be open for the adherence and accession
of the States which are not signatories. The corresponding
instruments shall be deposited in the archives of the Pan
American Union which shall communicate them to the other High
Contracting Parties.
In witness whereof, the following Plenipotentiaries have
signed this Convention in Spanish, English, Portuguese and
French and hereunto affix their respective seals in the city of
Montevideo, Republic of Uruguay, this 26th day of December,
1933.
RESERVATIONSThe Delegation of the United
States of America, in signing the Convention on the Rights and
Duties of States, does so with the express reservation presented
to the Plenary Session of the Conference on December 22, 1933,
which reservation reads as follows:
The Delegation of the United States, in voting "yes" on the
final vote on this committee recommendation and proposal, makes
the same reservation to the eleven articles of the project or
proposal that the United States Delegation made to the first ten
articles during the final vote in the full Commission, which
reservation is in words as follows:
"The policy and attitude of the United States Government
toward every important phase of international relationships in
this hemisphere could scarcely be made more clear and definite
than they have been made by both word and action especially
since March 4. I [Secretary of State Cordell Hull, chairman of
U.S. delegation] have no disposition therefore to indulge in any
repetition or rehearsal of these acts and utterances and shall
not do so. Every observing person must by this time thoroughly
understand that under the Roosevelt Administration the United
States Government is as much opposed as any other government to
interference with the freedom, the sovereignty, or other
internal affairs or processes of the governments of other
nations.
"In addition to numerous acts and utterances in connection
with the carrying out of these doctrines and policies, President
Roosevelt, during recent weeks, gave out a public statement
expressing his disposition to open negotiations with the Cuban
Government for the purpose of dealing with the treaty which has
existed since 1903. I feel safe in undertaking to say that under
our support of the general principle of non-intervention as has
been suggested, no government need fear any intervention on the
part of the United States under the Roosevelt Administration. I
think it unfortunate that during the brief period of this
Conference there is apparently not time within which to prepare
interpretations and definitions of these fundamental terms that
are embraced in the report. Such definitions and interpretations
would enable every government to proceed in a uniform way
without any difference of opinion or of interpretations. I hope
that at the earliest possible date such very important work will
be done. In the meantime in case of differences of
interpretations and also until they (the proposed doctrines and
principles) can be worked out and codified for the common use of
every government, I desire to say that the United States
Government in all of its international associations and
relationships and conduct will follow scrupulously the doctrines
and policies which it has pursued since March 4 which are
embodied in the different addresses of President Roosevelt since
that time and in the recent peace address of myself on the 15th
day of December before this Conference and in the law of nations
as generally recognized and accepted".
The delegates of Brazil and Peru recorded the following
private vote with regard to article 11: "That they accept the
doctrine in principle but that they do not consider it
codifiable because there are some countries which have not yet
signed the Anti-War Pact of Rio de Janeiro 4 of which this
doctrine is a part and therefore it does not yet constitute
positive international law suitable for codification".
