INTRODUCTION

To become a party to a treaty, a State must express its consent to be bound by that treaty. Article 21 deals with the signature and the means of expressing consent to be bound to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Article 21(1) follows the standard template on signature of international treaties, by establishing that it is open for signature until its entry into force. The Article’s second paragraph lists the types of expressions of consent to be bound by the Treaty: through signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. Instruments of expression of consent are to be deposited with the Depositary.

SIGNATURE

The ATT was open for signature on 3 June 2013. In most cases, the signing of a multilateral treaty is regarded as a ‘simple’ signature: it does not commit a State to ratify a treaty, nor comply with its terms. However, simple signature does create some obligations. Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) provides that after a State has signed a treaty, it is obligated to ‘refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose’ of the treaty (VCLT, Art. 18). Also, upon signature of the ATT and pursuant to Article 23, a State may declare that it will provisionally apply Articles 6 (Prohibitions) and 7 (Export and Export Assessment) pending the entry into force of the Treaty.

In some cases, a treaty might provide for ‘definitive’ signature (VCLT, Art. 12), meaning that the treaty is not subject to ratification, acceptance or approval and by signature alone a State expresses its consent to be bound. This is not the case with the ATT.