GENEVA CONVENTION ON THE HIGH SEAS, 1958
GENEVA CONVENTION ON THE HIGH SEAS, 1958
Whole document
THE STATES PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION
DESIRING to codify the rules of international law relating to the high
seas,
RECOGNISING that the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea,
held at Geneva from February 24 to April 27, 1958, adopted the following
provisions as generally declaratory of established principles of
international law,
HAVE AGREED as follows:
Article 1
The term "high seas" means all parts of the sea that are not included
in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State.
Article 2
The high seas being open to all nations, no State may validly purport
to subject any part of them to its sovereignty. Freedom of the high seas
is exercised under the conditions laid down by these Articles and by the
other rules of international law. It comprises, inter alia, both for
coastal and non-coastal States:
(1) Freedom of navigation;
(2) Freedom of fishing;
(3) Freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines;
(4) Freedom to fly over the high seas.
These freedoms, and others which are recognised by the general
principles of international law, shall be exercised by all States with
reasonable regard to the interests of other States in their exercise of
the freedom of the high seas.
Article 3
1. In order to enjoy the freedom of the seas on equal terms with
coastal States, States having no sea-coast should have free access to the
sea. To this end a State situated between the sea and a State having no
sea-coast shall by common agreement with the latter and in conformity with
existing international conventions accord:
(a) to the State having no sea-coast, on a basis of reciprocity,
free transit through their territory, and
(b) to ships flying the flag of that State treatment equal to that
accorded to their own ships, or to the ships of any other States, as
regards access to sea ports and the use of such ports.
2. States situated between the sea and a State having no sea-coast
shall settle, by mutual agreement with the latter, and taking into account
the rights of the coastal State or State of transit and the special
conditions of the State having no sea-coast, all matters relating to
freedom of transit and equal treatment in ports, in case such States are
not already parties to existing international conventions.
Article 4
Every State, whether coastal or not, has the right to sail ships under
its flag on the high seas.
Article 5
1. Each State shall fix the conditions for the grant of its
nationality to ships, for the registration of ships in its territory, and
for the right to fly its flag. Ships have the nationality of the State
whose flag they are entitled to fly. There must exist a genuine link
between the State and the ship, in particular, the State must effectively
exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and
social matters over ships flying its flag.
2. Each State shall issue to ships to which it has granted the right
to fly its flag documents to that effect.
Article 6
1. Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and, save in
exceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or in
these Articles, shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the high
seas. A ship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port of
call, save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change of
registry.
2. A ship which sails under the flags of two or more States, using
them according to convenience, may not claim any of the nationalities in
question with respect to any other State, and may be assimilated to a
ship without nationality.
Article 7
The provisions of the preceding Articles do not prejudice the question
of ships employed on the official service of an intergovernmental
organisation flying the flag of the organisation.
Article 8
1. Warships on the high seas have complete immunity from the
jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State.
2. For the purposes of these Articles, the term "warship" means a ship
belonging to the naval forces of a State and bearing the external marks
distinguishing warships of its nationality, under the command of an
officer duly commissioned by the government and whose name appears in the
Navy List, and manned by a crew who are under regular naval discipline.
Article 9
Ships owned or operated by a State and used only on government
non-commercial service shall, on the high seas, have complete immunity
from the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State.
Article 10
1. Every State shall take such measures for ships under its flag as
are necessary to ensure safety at sea with regard inter alia to:
(a) the use of signals, the maintenance of communications and the
prevention of collisions;
(b) the manning of ships and labour conditions for crews taking
into account the applicable international labour instruments;
(c) the construction, equipment and seaworthiness of ships.
2. In taking such measures each State is required to conform to
generally accepted international standards and to take any steps which may
be necessary to ensure their observance.
Article 11
1. In the event of a collision or of any other incident of navigation
concerning a ship on the high seas, involving the penal or disciplinary
responsibility of the master or of any other person in the service of the
ship, no penal or disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against such
persons except before the judicial or administrative authorities either of
the flag State or of the State of which such person is a national.
2. In disciplinary matters the State which has issued a master's
certificate or a certificate of competence or licence shall alone be
competent, after due legal process, to pronounce the withdrawal of such
certificates, even if the holder is not a national of the State which
issued them.
3. No arrest or detention of a ship, even as a measure of
investigation, shall be ordered by any authorities other than those of the
flag State.
Article 12
1. Every State shall require the master of a ship sailing under its
flag, in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship, the
crew or the passengers,
(a) to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of
being lost;
(b) to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in
distress if informed of their need of assistance, in so far as such action
may reasonably be expected of him;
(c) after a collision, to render assistance to the other ship, her
crew and her passengers and, where possible, to inform the other ship of
the name of his own ship, her port of registry and the nearest port at
which she will call.
2. Every coastal State shall promote the establishment and maintenance
of an adequate and effective search and rescue service regarding safety on
and over the sea and-where circumstances so require-by way of mutual
regional arrangements co-operate with neighbouring States for this
purpose.
Article 13
Every State shall adopt effective measures to prevent and punish the
transport of slaves in ships authorised to fly its flag, and to prevent
the unlawful use of its flag for that purpose. Any slave taking refuge on
board any ship, whatever its flag, shall ipso facto be free.
Article 14
All States shall co-operate to the fullest possible extent in the
repression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside the
jurisdiction of any State.
Article 15
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(1) Any illegal acts of violence, detention or any act of
depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a
private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(a) On the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or
against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(b) Against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place
outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(2) Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship
or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or
aircraft;
(3) Any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act
described in subparagraph (1) or subparagraph (2) of this Article.
Article 16
The acts of piracy, as defined in Article 15, committed by a warship,
government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied and taken
control of the ship or aircraft are assimilated to acts committed by a
private ship.
Article 17
A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is
intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of
committing one of the acts referred to in Article 15. The same applies if
the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it
remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.
Article 18
A ship or aircraft may retain its nationality although it has become a
pirate ship or aircraft. The retention or loss of nationality is
determined by the law of the State from which such nationality was
originally derived.
Article 19
On the high seas, or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of
any State, every State may seize a pirate ship or aircraft, or a ship
taken by piracy and under the control of pirates, and arrest the persons
and seize the property on board. The courts of the State which carried out
the seizure may decide upon the penalties to be imposed, and may also
determine the action to be taken with regard to the ships, aircraft or
property, subject to the rights of third parties acting in good faith.
Article 20
Where the seizure of a ship or aircraft on suspicion of piracy has
been effected without adequate grounds, the State making the seizure shall
be liable to the State the nationality of which is possessed by the ship
or aircraft, for any loss or damage caused by the seizure.
Article 21
A seizure on account of piracy may only be carried out by warships or
military aircraft, or other ships or aircraft on government service
authorised to that effect.
Article 22
1. Except where acts of interference derive from powers conferred by
treaty, a warship which encounters a foreign merchant ship on the high
seas is not justified in boarding her unless there is reasonable ground
for suspecting:
(a) That the ship is engaged in piracy; or
(b) That the ship is engaged in the slave trade; or
(c) That, though flying a foreign flag or refusing to show its
flag, the ship is, in reality, of the same nationality as the warship.
2. In the cases provided for in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) above,
the warship may proceed to verify the ship's right to fly its flag. To
this end, it may send a boat under the command of an officer to the
suspected ship. If suspicion remains after the documents have been
checked, it may proceed to a further examination on board the ship, which
must be carried out with all possible consideration.
3. If the suspicions prove to be unfounded, and provided that the ship
boarded has not committed any act justifying them, it shall be compensated
for any loss or damage that may have been sustained.
Article 23
1. The hot pursuit of a foreign ship may be undertaken when the
competent authorities of the coastal State have good reason to believe
that the ship has violated the laws and regulations of that State. Such
pursuit must be commenced when the foreign ship or one of its boats is
within the internal waters or the territorial sea or the contiguous zone
of the pursuing State, and may only be continued outside the territorial
sea or the contiguous zone if the pursuit has not been interrupted. It is
not necessary that, at the time when the foreign ship within the
territorial sea or the contiguous zone receives the order to stop, the
ship giving the order should likewise be within the territorial sea or the
contiguous zone. If the foreign ship is within a contiguous zone, as
defined in Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the
Contiguous Zone, the pursuit may only be undertaken if there has been a
violation of the rights for the protection of which the zone was
established.
2. The right of hot pursuit ceases as soon as the ship pursued enters
the territorial sea of its own country or of a third State.
3. Hot pursuit is not deemed to have begun unless the pursuing ship
has satisfied itself by such practicable means as may be available that
the ship pursued or one of its boats or other craft working as a team and
using the ship pursued as a mother ship are within the limits of the
territorial sea, or as the case may be within the contiguous zone. The
pursuit may only be commenced after a visual or auditory signal to stop
has been given at a distance which enables it to be seen or heard by the
foreign ship.
4. The right of hot pursuit may be exercised only by warships or
military aircraft, or other ships or aircraft on government service
specially authorised to that effect.
5. Where hot pursuit is effected by an aircraft:
(a) The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of the present Article
shall apply mutaits mutandis;
(b) The aircraft giving the order to stop must itself actively
pursue the ship until a ship or aircraft of the coastal State, summoned by
the aircraft, arrives to take over the pursuit, unless the aircraft is
itself able to arrest the ship. It does not suffice to justify an arrest
on the high seas that the ship was merely sighted by the aircraft as an
offender or suspected offender, if it was not both ordered to stop and
pursued by the aircraft itself or other aircraft or ships which continue
the pursuit without interruption.
6. The release of a ship arrested within the jurisdiction of a State
and escorted to a port of that State for the purposes of an enquiry before
the competent authorities, may not be claimed solely on the ground that
the ship, in the course of its voyage, was escorted across a portion of
the high seas, if the circumstances rendered this necessary.
7. Where a ship has been stopped or arrested on the high seas in
circumstances which do not justify the exercise of the right of hot
pursuit, it shall be compensated for any loss or damage that may have been
thereby sustained.
Article 24
Every State shall draw up regulations to prevent pollution of the seas
by the discharge of oil from ships or pipelines or resulting from the
exploitation and exploration of the seabed and its subsoil, taking account
of existing treaty provisions on the subject.
Article 25
1. Every State shall take measures to prevent pollution of the seas
from the dumping of radioactive waste, taking into account any standards
and regulations which may be formulated by the competent international
organisations.
2. All States shall co-operate with the competent international
organisations in taking measures for the prevention of pollution of the
seas or air space above, resulting from any activities with radioactive
materials or other harmful agents.
Article 26
1. All States shall be entitled to lay submarine cables and pipelines
on the bed of the high seas.
2. Subject to its right to take reasonable measures for the
exploration of the continental shelf and the exploitation of its natural
resources, the coastal State may not impede the laying or maintenance of
such cables or pipelines.
3. When laying such cables or pipelines the State in question shall
pay due regard to cables or pipelines already in position on the seabed.
In particular, possibilities of repairing existing cables or pipelines
shall not be prejudiced.
Article 27
Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to provide
that the breaking or injury by a ship flying its flag or by a person
subject to its jurisdiction of a submarine cable beneath the high seas
done wilfully or through culpable negligence, in such a manner as to be
liable to interrupt or obstruct telegraphic or telephonic communications,
and similarly the breaking or injury of a submarine pipeline or
high-voltage power cable shall be a punishable offence. This provision
shall not apply to any break or injury caused by persons who acted merely
with the legitimate object of saving their lives or their ships, after
having taken all necessary precautions to avoid such break or injury.
Article 28
Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to provide
that, if persons subject to its jurisdiction who are the owners of a cable
or pipeline beneath the high seas, in laying or repairing that cable or
pipeline, cause a break in or injury to another cable or pipeline, they
shall bear the cost of the repairs.
Article 29
Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to ensure
that the owners of ships who can prove that they have sacrificed an
anchor, a net or any other fishing gear, in order to avoid injuring a
submarine cable or pipeline, shall be indemnified by the owner of the
cable or pipeline, provided that the owner of the ship has taken all
reasonable precautionary measures beforehand.
Article 30
The provisions of this Convention shall not affect Conventions or
other international agreements already in force, as between States Parties
to them.
Article 31
This Convention shall, until October 31, 1958, be open for signature
by all States Members of the United Nations or of any of the Specialised
Agencies and by any other State invited by the General Assembly to become
a Party to the Convention.
Article 32
This Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of
ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article 33
This Convention shall be open for accession by any States belonging to
any of the categories mentioned in Article 31. The instruments of
accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article 34
1. This Convention shall come into force on the thirtieth day
following the date of deposit of the twenty-second instrument of
ratification or accession with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
2. For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the
deposit of the twenty-second instrument of ratification or accession, the
Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after deposit by
such State of its instruments of ratification or accession.
Article 35
1. After the expiration of a period of five years from the date on
which this Convention shall enter into force a request for the revision of
this Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting Party by means
of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.
2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide upon the
steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request.
Article 36
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States
Members of the United Nations and the other States referred to in Article
31:
(a) Of signatures to this Convention and of the deposit of
instruments of ratification or accession, in accordance with Articles 31,
32 and 33;
(b) Of the date on which this Convention will come into force, in
accordance with Article 34;
(c) Of requests for revision in accordance with Article 35.
Article 37
The original of this Convention of which the Chinese, English, French,
Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations who shall send certified
copies thereof to all States referred to in Article 31.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly
authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this
Convention.
DONE AT GENEVA, this twenty-ninth day of April one thousand nine
hundred and fifty eight.
ne the action to be taken with regard to the ships, aircraft or
property, subject to the rights of third parties acting in good faith.
Article 20
Where the seizure of a ship or aircraft on suspicion of piracy has
been effected without adequate grounds, the State making the seizure shall
be liable to the State the nationality of which is possessed by the ship
or aircraft, for any loss or damage caused by the seizure.
Article 21
A seizure on account of piracy may only be carried out by warships or
military aircraft, or other ships or aircraft on government service
authorised to that effect.
Article 22
1. Except where acts of interference derive from powers conferred by
treaty, a warship which encounters a foreign merchant ship on the high
seas is not justified in boarding her unless there is reasonable ground
for suspecting:
(a) That the ship is engaged in piracy; or
(b) That the ship is engaged in the slave trade; or
(c) That, though flying a foreign flag or refusing to show its
flag, the ship is, in reality, of the same nationality as the warship.
2. In the cases provided for in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) above,
the warship may proceed to verify the ship's right to fly its flag. To
this end, it may send a boat under the command of an officer to the
suspected ship. If suspicion remains after the documents have been
checked, it may proceed to a further examination on board the ship, which
must be carried out with all possible consideration.
3. If the suspicions prove to be unfounded, and provided that the ship
boarded has not committed any act justifying them, it shall be compensated
for any loss or damage that may have been sustained.
Article 23
1. The hot pursuit of a foreign ship may be undertaken when the
competent authorities of the coastal State have good reason to believe
that the ship has violated the laws and regulations of that State. Such
pursuit must be commenced when the foreign ship or one of its boats is
within the internal waters or the territorial sea or the contiguous zone
of the pursuing State, and may only be continued outside the territorial
sea or the contiguous zone if the pursuit has not been interrupted. It is
not necessary that, at the time when the foreign ship within the
territorial sea or the contiguous zone receives the order to stop, the
ship giving the order should likewise be within the territorial sea or the
contiguous zone. If the foreign ship is within a contiguous zone, as
defined in Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the
Contiguous Zone, the pursuit may only be undertaken if there has been a
violation of the rights for the protection of which the zone was
established.
2. The right of hot pursuit ceases as soon as the ship pursued enters
the territorial sea of its own country or of a third State.
3. Hot pursuit is not deemed to have begun unless the pursuing ship
has satisfied itself by such practicable means as may be available that
the ship pursued or one of its boats or other craft working as a team and
using the ship pursued as a mother ship are within the limits of the
territorial sea, or as the case may be within the contiguous zone. The
pursuit may only be commenced after a visual or auditory signal to stop
has been given at a distance which enables it to be seen or heard by the
foreign ship.
4. The right of hot pursuit may be exercised only by warships or
military aircraft, or other ships or aircraft on government service
specially authorised to that effect.
5. Where hot pursuit is effected by an aircraft:
(a) The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of the present Article
shall apply mutaits mutandis;
(b) The aircraft giving the order to stop must itself actively
pursue the ship until a ship or aircraft of the coastal State, summoned by
the aircraft, arrives to take over the pursuit, unless the aircraft is
itself able to arrest the ship. It does not suffice to justify an arrest
on the high seas that the ship was merely sighted by the aircraft as an
offender or suspected offender, if it was not both ordered to stop and
pursued by the aircraft itself or other aircraft or ships which continue
the pursuit without interruption.
6. The release of a ship arrested within the jurisdiction of a State
and escorted to a port of that State for the purposes of an enquiry before
the competent authorities, may not be claimed solely on the ground that
the ship, in the course of its voyage, was escorted across a portion of
the high seas, if the circumstances rendered this necessary.
7. Where a ship has been stopped or arrested on the high seas in
circumstances which do not justify the exercise of the right of hot
pursuit, it shall be compensated for any loss or damage that may have been
thereby sustained.
Article 24
Every State shall draw up regulations to prevent pollution of the seas
by the discharge of oil from ships or pipelines or resulting from the
exploitation and exploration of the seabed and its subsoil, taking account
of existing treaty provisions on the subject.
Article 25
1. Every State shall take measures to prevent pollution of the seas
from the dumping of radioactive waste, taking into account any standards
and regulations which may be formulated by the competent international
organisations.
2. All States shall co-operate with the competent international
organisations in taking measures for the prevention of pollution of the
seas or air space above, resulting from any activities with radioactive
materials or other harmful agents.
Article 26
1. All States shall be entitled to lay submarine cables and pipelines
on the bed of the high seas.
2. Subject to its right to take reasonable measures for the
exploration of the continental shelf and the exploitation of its natural
resources, the coastal State may not impede the laying or maintenance of
such cables or pipelines.
3. When laying such cables or pipelines the State in question shall
pay due regard to cables or pipelines already in position on the seabed.
In particular, possibilities of repairing existing cables or pipelines
shall not be prejudiced.
Article 27
Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to provide
that the breaking or injury by a ship flying its flag or by a person
subject to its jurisdiction of a submarine cable beneath the high seas
done wilfully or through culpable negligence, in such a manner as to be
liable to interrupt or obstruct telegraphic or telephonic communications,
and similarly the breaking or injury of a submarine pipeline or
high-voltage power cable shall be a punishable offence. This provision
shall not apply to any break or injury caused by persons who acted merely
with the legitimate object of saving their lives or their ships, after
having taken all necessary precautions to avoid such break or injury.
Article 28
Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to provide
that, if persons subject to its jurisdiction who are the owners of a cable
or pipeline beneath the high seas, in laying or repairing that cable or
pipeline, cause a break in or injury to another cable or pipeline, they
shall bear the cost of the repairs.
Article 29
Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to ensure
that the owners of ships who can prove that they have sacrificed an
anchor, a net or any other fishing gear, in order to avoid injuring a
submarine cable or pipeline, shall be indemnified by the owner of the
cable or pipeline, provided that the owner of the ship has taken all
reasonable precautionary measures beforehand.
Article 30
The provisions of this Convention shall not affect Conventions or
other international agreements already in force, as between States Parties
to them.
Article 31
This Convention shall, until October 31, 1958, be open for signature
by all States Members of the United Nations or of any of the Specialised
Agencies and by any other State invited by the General Assembly to become
a Party to the Convention.
Article 32
This Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of
ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article 33
This Convention shall be open for accession by any States belonging to
any of the categories mentioned in Article 31. The instruments of
accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article 34
1. This Convention shall come into force on the thirtieth day
following the date of deposit of the twenty-second instrument of
ratification or accession with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
2. For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after the
deposit of the twenty-second instrument of ratification or accession, the
Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after deposit by
such State of its instruments of ratification or accession.
Article 35
1. After the expiration of a period of five years from the date on
which this Convention shall enter into force a request for the revision of
this Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting Party by means
of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.
2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide upon the
steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request.
Article 36
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all States
Members of the United Nations and the other States referred to in Article
31:
(a) Of signatures to this Convention and of the deposit of
instruments of ratification or accession, in accordance with Articles 31,
32 and 33;
(b) Of the date on which this Convention will come into force, in
accordance with Article 34;
(c) Of requests for revision in accordance with Article 35.
Article 37
The original of this Convention of which the Chinese, English, French,
Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations who shall send certified
copies thereof to all States referred to in Article 31.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, being duly
authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this
Convention.
DONE AT GENEVA, this twenty-ninth day of April one thousand nine
hundred and fifty eight.
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