Valletta Treaty - Signatures and Ratifications

Signatures and Ratifications

Every State party that is consent to be bound by an international treaty needs to follow a procedure so the treaty can come into effect on the national and international level:

• Signature
• Ratification/Acceptance/Approval
• Deposition of the Ratification Document
• Entry into Force

The European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (revised) is “open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe and the other States party to the European Cultural Convention. It is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval” (Art. 14, para. 1).

Before or simultaneously depositing the ratification to the revised Convention, the State party must denounce The European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage of 1969 (Art. 14, para. 2).

The revised Convention shall enter into force six months after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification by any signatory State (Art. 14, para. 5). In the process of signing or ratifying the treaty, States may specify/limit the territory to which this revised Convention shall apply (Art. 16). Every State party can denounce the revised Convention by notification to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (Art. 17).