Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables

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Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables
Signed14 March 1884 (1884-03-14) [1]
Location Paris, France [1]
Effective1 May 1888 [1]
ConditionExchange of ratifications
Signatories27
Parties36 (as of 2013) [2]
Ratifiers47
DepositaryGovernment of the French Republic [3]
Full text
Wikisource-logo.svg Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables at Wikisource

The Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables is a multilateral treaty that was signed in 1884 in order to protect submarine communications cables that had begun to be laid in the 19th century.

Contents

Content

The convention made it a punishable offence to damage submarine communications cables. In addition, all ships were to be regulated to staying a distance of 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) away from cable laying ships when in operation. Any ship that accidentally hooked a cable and sacrificed its fishing nets to avoid breaking it would be compensated for the lost equipment. [3]

State parties

The convention has been signed, ratified, and acceded to by the following parties. A number of dependent territories ratified the convention or had the convention extended to them.

For states that were not original signatories, the date they accepted the convention is indicated.

StateSignatureRatificationNotes
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1976
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 18841885
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 1901Upon federation, Australia accepted the ratifications of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia to be applicable to the Commonwealth of Australia.
Flag of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918).svg  Austria-Hungary 18841885Austria and Hungary both submitted separate notifications of succession.
Flag of Austria.svg Austria 1921Notification of succession of ratification by Austria-Hungary.
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 18841885
Flag of Empire of Brazil (1822-1870).svg Brazil 18841885
Canadian Red Ensign (1868-1921).svg Canada 1888Extension by the United Kingdom to cover Canada.
Flag of the Cape Colony (1876-1910).svg Cape Colony 1888This ratification no longer has any force for any state; South Africa has not declared its succession to the ratification.
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1884
Flag of Costa Rica (1848-1906).svg  Costa Rica 18841885
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 1925This ratification no longer has any force for any state; neither the Czech Republic nor Slovakia have declared their succession to the ratification.
Flag of the Free City of Danzig.svg  Free City of Danzig 1926This ratification no longer has any force for any state.
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 18841885
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 18841885
Flag of El Salvador (1869-1873).svg  El Salvador 18841885
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 1971
Flag of France.svg France 18841885
Flag of the German Empire.svg Germany 18841885
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg Greece 18841888
Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 18841885
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary 1922Notification of succession of the ratification by Austria-Hungary.
State Flag of Iran (1925).svg Iran (Persia) 1884
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg Italy 18841885
Merchant flag of Japan (1870).svg Japan 1884
Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 18841885
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 1968
Flag of the Natal Colony 1875-1910.svg Natal 1888This ratification no longer has any force for any state; South Africa has not declared its succession to the ratification.
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 18841885Also applied to the colonies of the Dutch East Indies, Territory of Curaçao and Suriname (1892). Presently still applies to the territories making up the Territory of Curaçao: Aruba (1986), Curaçao (2010), Sint Maarten (2010), Caribbean Netherlands (2010)
Dominion of Newfoundland Red Ensign.svg Newfoundland 1888Extension by the United Kingdom to cover Newfoundland; this ratification is now subsumed within Canada's.
Flag of New South Wales.svg New South Wales 1888This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia.
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1888Extension by the United Kingdom to cover New Zealand.
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1905Convention previously applied to Norway via the ratification of Sweden-Norway.
Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844-1922).svg  Ottoman Empire 18841885This ratification now applied to Turkey.
Flag of Poland.svg Poland 1934
Flag Portugal (1830).svg Portugal 18841885
Flag of Queensland.svg   Queensland 1886This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia.
Flag of Romania.svg Romania 18841886
Flag of Russia.svg Russia 18841885
State Flag of Serbia (1882-1918).svg Serbia 18841885This ratification was previously accepted as applicable to it by Yugoslavia and by Serbia and Montenegro.
Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia 1885This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia.
Flag of Spain (1785-1873, 1875-1931).svg Spain 18841885
Union Jack of Sweden and Norway (1844-1905).svg Sweden-Norway 18841885This ratification now applies to Sweden.
Flag of Tasmania.svg Tasmania 1888This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia.
Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 1889
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 18841885
Flag of the United States (1877-1890).svg  United States 18841885
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 18841885
Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria 1885This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia.
Flag of Western Australia.svg Western Australia 1888This ratification is now subsumed within the Convention's application to Australia.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "International Convention on the Protection of Submarine Cables, with additional Article". Government of the Netherlands. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  2. Submarine Cables
  3. 1 2 "Convention for the Protection of Submarine Telegraph Cables (Paris, 14 March 1884)" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2010.

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