Signed | 14 March 1884 [1] |
---|---|
Location | Paris, France [1] |
Effective | 1 May 1888 [1] |
Condition | Exchange of ratifications |
Signatories | 27 |
Parties | 36 (as of 2013) [2] |
Ratifiers | 47 |
Depositary | Government of the French Republic [3] |
Full text | |
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.
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]
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.
State | Signature | Ratification | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Algeria | – | 1976 | |
Argentina | 1884 | 1885 | |
Australia | – | 1901 | Upon 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. |
Austria-Hungary | 1884 | 1885 | Austria and Hungary both submitted separate notifications of succession. |
Austria | – | 1921 | Notification of succession of ratification by Austria-Hungary. |
Belgium | 1884 | 1885 | |
Brazil | 1884 | 1885 | |
Canada | – | 1888 | Extension by the United Kingdom to cover Canada. |
Cape Colony | – | 1888 | This ratification no longer has any force for any state; South Africa has not declared its succession to the ratification. |
Colombia | 1884 | – | |
Costa Rica | 1884 | 1885 | |
Czechoslovakia | – | 1925 | This ratification no longer has any force for any state; neither the Czech Republic nor Slovakia have declared their succession to the ratification. |
Free City of Danzig | – | 1926 | This ratification no longer has any force for any state. |
Denmark | 1884 | 1885 | |
Dominican Republic | 1884 | 1885 | |
El Salvador | 1884 | 1885 | |
Fiji | – | 1971 | |
France | 1884 | 1885 | |
Germany | 1884 | 1885 | |
Greece | 1884 | 1888 | |
Guatemala | 1884 | 1885 | |
Hungary | – | 1922 | Notification of succession of the ratification by Austria-Hungary. |
Iran (Persia) | 1884 | – | |
Italy | 1884 | 1885 | |
Japan | – | 1884 | |
Luxembourg | 1884 | 1885 | |
Malta | – | 1968 | |
Natal | – | 1888 | This ratification no longer has any force for any state; South Africa has not declared its succession to the ratification. |
Netherlands | 1884 | 1885 | Also 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) |
Newfoundland | – | 1888 | Extension by the United Kingdom to cover Newfoundland; this ratification is now subsumed within Canada's. |
New South Wales | – | 1888 | This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia. |
New Zealand | – | 1888 | Extension by the United Kingdom to cover New Zealand. |
Norway | – | 1905 | Convention previously applied to Norway via the ratification of Sweden-Norway. |
Ottoman Empire | 1884 | 1885 | This ratification now applied to Turkey. |
Poland | – | 1934 | |
Portugal | 1884 | 1885 | |
Queensland | – | 1886 | This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia. |
Romania | 1884 | 1886 | |
Russia | 1884 | 1885 | |
Serbia | 1884 | 1885 | This ratification was previously accepted as applicable to it by Yugoslavia and by Serbia and Montenegro. |
South Australia | – | 1885 | This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia. |
Spain | 1884 | 1885 | |
Sweden-Norway | 1884 | 1885 | This ratification now applies to Sweden. |
Tasmania | – | 1888 | This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia. |
Tunisia | – | 1889 | |
United Kingdom | 1884 | 1885 | |
United States | 1884 | 1885 | |
Uruguay | 1884 | 1885 | |
Victoria | – | 1885 | This ratification is now subsumed within the convention's application to Australia. |
Western Australia | – | 1888 | This ratification is now subsumed within the Convention's application to Australia. |
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