CONVENTION AND STATUTE ON FREEDOM OF TRANSIT, 1921
CONVENTION AND STATUTE ON FREEDOM OF TRANSIT, 1921
Whole document
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, the British Empire (with New Zealand
and India), Spain, Esthonia, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti,
Honduras, Italy, Japan, Lativia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Norway, Panama,
Paraguay, the Netherlands, Persia, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, the
Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Sweden, Switzerland, Czecho-Slovakia, Uruguay
and Venezuela:
Desirous of making provision to secure and maintain freedom of
communications and of transit,
Being of opinion that in such matters general conventions to which
other Powers may accede at a later date constitute the best method of
realising the purpose of Article 23 (e) of the Convention of the League of
Nations,
Recognising that it is well to proclaim the right of free transit and
to make regulations thereon as being one of the best means of developing
co-operation between States without prejudice to their rights of
sovereignty or authority over routes available for transit,
Having accepted the invitation of the League of Nations to take part
in a Conference at Barcelona which met on March 10, 1921, and having taken
note of the final Act of such Conference,
Anxious to bring into force forthwith the provisions of the
Regulations relating to transit by rail or waterway adopted thereat,
Wishing to conclude a Convention for this purpose, the High
Contracting Parties have appointed Plenipotentiaries,
Who, after communicating their full powers found in good and due form,
have agreed as follows:
Article 1
The High Contracting Parties declare that they accept the Statute on
Freedom of Transit annexed hereto, adopted by the Barcelona Conference on
April 14, 1921.
This Statute will be deemed to constitute an integral part of the
present Convention. Consequently, they hereby declare that they accept
the obligations and undertakings of the said Statute in conformity with
the terms and in accordance with the conditions set out therein.
Article 2
The present Convention does not in any way affect the rights and
obligations arising out of the provisions of the Treaty of Peace signed at
Versailles on June 28, 1919 or out of the provisions of the other
corresponding Treaties, in so far as they concern the Powers which have
signed, or which benefit by, such Treaties.
Article 3
The present Convention, of which the French and English texts are both
authentic, shall bear this day's date and shall be open for signature
until December 1, 1921.
Article 4
The present Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of
ratification shall be transmitted to the Secretary-General of the League
of Nations, who will notify the receipt of them to the other Members of
the League and to States admitted to sign the Convention. The instruments
of ratification shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat.
In order to comply with the provisions of Article 18 of the Covenant
of the League of Nations, the Secretary-General will register the present
Convention upon the deposit of the first ratification.
Article 5
Members of the League of Nations which have not signed the present
Convention before December 1, 1921, may accede to it.
The same applies to States not Members of the League to which the
Council of the League may decide officially to communicate the present
Convention.
Accession will be notified to the Secretary-General of the League who
will inform all Powers concerned of the accession and of the date on which
it was notified.
Article 6
The present Convention will not come into force until it has been
ratified by five Powers. The date of its coming into force shall be the
ninetieth day after the receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of
Nations of the fifth ratification. Thereafter the present Convention will
take effect in the case of each Party ninety days after the receipt of its
ratification or of the notification of its accession.
Upon the coming into force of the present Convention, the
Secretary-General will address a certified copy of it to the Powers not
Members of the League which are bound under the Treaties of Peace to
accede to it.
Article 7
A special record shall be kept by the Secretary-General of the League
of Nations, showing which of the Parties have signed, ratified, acceded to
or denounced the present Convention. This record shall be open to the
Members of the League at all times; it shall be published as often as
possible in accordance with the directions of the Council.
Article 8
Subject to the provisions of Article 2 of the present Convention, the
latter may be denounced by any Party thereto after the expiration of five
years from the date when it came into force in respect of that Party.
Denunciation shall be effected by notification in writing addressed to the
Secretary-General of the League of Nations. Copies of such notification
shall be transmitted forthwith by him to all other Parties, informing them
of the date on which it was received.
The denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which it
was notified to the Secretary-General, and shall operate only in respect
of the notifying Power.
Article 9
A request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at
any time by one-third of the High Contracting Parties.
In faith whereof the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed the
present Convention.
Done at Barcelona the twentieth day of April one thousand nine hundred
and twenty-one, in a single copy which shall remain deposited in the
archives of the League of Nations.
STATUTE ON FREEDOM OF TRANSIT
Article 1
Persons, baggage and goods, and also vessels, coaching and goods
stock, and other means of transport, shall be deemed to be in transit
across territory under the sovereignty or authority of one of the
Contracting States, when the passage across such territory, with or
without transhipment, warehousing, breaking bulk, or change in the mode of
transport, is only a portion of a complete journey, beginning and
terminating beyond the frontier of the State across whose territory the
transit takes place.
Traffic of this nature is termed in this Statute "traffic in transit".
Article 2
Subject to the other provisions of this Statute, the measures taken by
Contracting States for regulating and forwarding traffic across territory
under their sovereignty or authority shall facilitate free transit by rail
or waterway on routes in use convenient for international transit. No
distinction shall be made which is based on the nationality of persons,
the flag of vessels, the place of origin, departure, entry, exit or
destination, or on any circumstances relating to the ownership of goods or
of vessels, coaching or goods stock or other means of transport.
In order to ensure the application of the provisions of this Article,
Contracting States will allow transit in accordance with the customary
conditions and reserves across their territorial waters.
Article 3
Traffic in transit shall not be subject to any special dues in respect
of transit (including entry and exit). Nevertheless, on such traffic in
transit there may be levied dues intended solely to defray expenses of
supervision and administration entailed by such transit. The rate of any
such dues must correspond as nearly as possible with the expenses which
they are intended to cover, and the dues must be imposed under the
conditions of equality laid down in the preceding Article, except that on
certain routes, such dues may be reduced or even abolished on account of
differences in the cost of supervision.
Article 4
The Contracting States undertake to apply to traffic in transit on
routes operated or administered by the State or under concession, whatever
may be the place of departure or destination of the traffic, tariffs
which, having regard to the conditions of the traffic and to
considerations of commercial competition between routes, are reasonable as
regards both their rates and the method of their application. These
tariffs shall be so fixed as to facilitate international traffic as much
as possible. No charges, facilities or restrictions shall depend, directly
or indirectly, on the nationality or ownership of the vessel or other
means of transport on which any part of the complete journey has been or
is to be accomplished.
Article 5
No Contracting State shall be bound by this Statute to afford transit
for passengers whose admission into its territories is forbidden, or for
goods of a kind of which the importation is prohibited, either on grounds
of public health or security, or as a precaution against diseases of
animals or plants.
Each Contracting State shall be entitled to take reasonable
precautions to ensure that persons, baggage and goods, particularly goods
which are the subject of a monopoly, and also vessels, coaching and goods
stock and other means of transport, are really in transit, as well as to
ensure that passengers in transit are in a position to complete their
journey, and to prevent the safety of the routes and means of
communication being endangered.
Nothing in this Statute shall affect the measures which one of the
Contracting States may feel called upon to take in pursuance of general
international Conventions to which it is a party, or which may be
concluded hereafter, particularly Conventions concluded under the auspices
of the League of Nations, relating to the transit, export or import of
particular kinds of Articles, such as opium or other dangerous drugs,
arms or the produce of fisheries, or in pursuance of general Conventions
intended to prevent any infringement of industrial, literary or artistic
property, or relating to false marks, false indications of origin, or
other methods of unfair competition.
Any haulage service established as a monopoly on waterways used for
transit must be so organised as not to hinder the transit of vessels.
Article 6
This Statute does not of itself impose on any of the Contracting
States a fresh obligation to grant freedom of transit to the nationals and
their baggage, or to the flag of a non-Contracting State, nor to the
goods, nor to coaching and goods stock or other means of transport coming
or entering from, or leaving by, or destined for a non-Contracting State,
except when a valid reason is shown for such transit by one of the other
Contracting States concerned. It is understood that for the purposes of
this Article, goods in transit under the flag of a Contracting State
shall, if no transhipment takes place, benefit by the advantages granted
to that flag.
Article 7
The measures of a general or particular character which a Contracting
State is obliged to take in case of an emergency affecting the safety of
the State or the vital interests of the country may in exceptional cases,
and for as short a period as possible, involve a deviation from the
provisions of the above Articles; it being understood that the principle
of freedom of transit must be observed to the utmost possible extent.
Article 8
This Statute does not prescribe the rights and duties of belligerents
and neutrals in time of war. The Statute shall, however, continue in force
in time of war so far as such rights and duties permit.
Article 9
This Statute does not impose upon a Contracting State any obligations
conflicting with its rights and duties as a Member of the League of
Nations.
Article 10
The coming into force of this Statute will not abrogate treaties,
conventions and agreements on questions of transit concluded by
Contracting States before May 1, 1921.
In consideration of such agreements being kept in force, Contracting
States undertake, either on the termination of the agreement or when
circumstances permit, to introduce into agreements so kept in force which
contravene the provisions of this Statute the modifications required to
bring them into harmony with such provisions, so far as the geographical,
economic or technical circumstances of the countries or areas concerned
allow.
Contracting States also undertake not to conclude in future treaties,
conventions or agreements which are inconsistent with the provisions of
this Statute, except when geographical, economic or technical
considerations justify exceptional deviations therefrom.
Furthermore, Contracting States may, in matters of transit, enter into
regional understandings consistent with the principles of this Statute.
Article 11
This Statute does not entail in any way the withdrawal of facilities
which are greater than those provided for in the Statute and have been
granted, under conditions consistent with its principles, to traffic in
transit across territory under the sovereignty or authority of a
Contracting State. The Statute also entails no prohibitions of such grant
of greater facilities in the future.
Article 12
In conformity with Article 23(c) of the Covenant of the League of
Nations, any Contracting State which can establish a good case against the
application of any provision of this Statute in some or all of its
territory on the ground of the grave economic situation arising out of the
acts of devastation perpetrated on its soil during the war 1914-1918,
shall be deemed to be relieved temporarily of the obligations arising from
the application of such provision, it being understood that the principle
of freedom of transit must be observed to the utmost possible extent.
Article 13
Any dispute which may arise as to the interpretation or application of
this Statute which is not settled directly between the parties themselves
shall be brought before the Permanent Court of International Justice,
unless, under a special agreement or a general arbitration provision,
steps are taken for the settlement of the dispute by arbitration or some
other means.
Proceedings are opened in the manner laid down in Article 40 of the
Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
In order to settle such disputes, however, in a friendly way as far as
possible, the Contracting States undertake, before resorting to any
judicial proceedings and without prejudice to the powers and right of
action of the Council and of the Assembly, to submit such disputes for an
opinion to any body established by the League of Nations, as the advisory
and technical organisation of the Members of the League in matters of
communications and transit. In urgent cases, a preliminary opinion may
recommend temporary measures intended, in particular, to restore the
facilities for freedom of transit which existed before the act or
occurrence which gave rise to the dispute.
Article 14
In view of the fact that within or immediately adjacent to the
territory of some of the Contracting States there are areas or enclaves,
small in extent and population in comparison with such territories, and
that these areas or enclaves form detached portions or settlements of
other parent States, and that it is impracticable for reasons of an
administrative order to apply to them the provisions of this Statute, it
is agreed that these provisions shall not apply to them.
The same stipulation applies where a colony or dependency has a very
long frontier in comparison with its surface and where in consequence it
is practically impossible to afford the necessary Customs and police
supervision.
The States concerned, however, will apply in the cases referred to
above a regime which will respect the principles of the present Statute
and facilitate transit and communications as far as practicable.
Article 15
It is understood that this Statute must not be interpreted as
regulating in any way rights and obligations inter se of territories
forming part or placed under the protection of the same sovereign State,
whether or not these territories are individually Members of the League of
Nations.
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