ARTICLE 25 (1) Countries outside the Union which make provision for the legal protection of the rights forming the object of this Convention may accede thereto upon request. (2) Such accession shall be notified in writing to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, who shall communicate it to all the other countries of the Union. (3) Such accession shall imply full acceptance of all the clauses and admission to all the advantages provided by this Convention, and shall take effect one month after the date of the notification made by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to the other countries of the Union, unless some later date has been indicated by the acceding country. It may, nevertheless, contain an indication that the acceding country wishes to substitute, provisionally at least, for Article 8, which relates to translations, the provisions of Article 5 of the Convention of 1886 revised at Paris in 1896(3), on the understanding that those provisions shall apply only to translations into the language or languages of that country. ARTICLE 26 (1) Any country of the Union may at any time in writing notify the Swiss Government that this Convention shall apply to its overseas territories, colonies, protectorates, territories under its trusteeship, or to any other territory for the international relations of which it is responsible, and the Convention shall thereupon apply to all the territories named in such notification, as from a date determined in accordance with Article 25, paragraph (3). In the absence of such notification, the Convention shall not apply to such territories. (2) Any country of the Union may at any time in writing notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation that this Convention shall cease to apply to all or any of the territories which have been made the subject of a notification under the preceding paragraph, and the Convention shall cease to apply in the territories named in such notification twelve months after its receipt by the Government of the Swiss Confederation. (3) All notifications given to the Government of the Swiss Confederation in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1) and (2) of this Article shall be communicated by that Government to all the countries of the Union. ARTICLE 27 (1) This Convention shall replace, in relations between the countries of the Union, the Convention of Berne of the 9th September 1886(2), and the subsequent revisions thereof. The Instruments previously in force shall continue to be applicable in relations with countries which do not ratify this Convention. (2) The countries on whose behalf this Convention is signed may retain the benefit of the reservations which they have previously formulated, on condition that they make declaration to that effect at the time of the deposit of their ratifications. (3) Countries which are at present members of the Union, but on whose behalf this Convention is not signed, may accede to it at any time, in the manner provided for in Article 25. In that event they shall enjoy the benefit of the provisions of the preceding paragraph. ARTICLE 27bis A dispute between two or more countries of the Union concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, not settled by negotiation, shall be brought before the International Court of Justice for determination by it, unless the countries concerned agree on some other method of settlement. The Country requesting that the dispute should be brought before the Court shall inform the International Office; the Office shall bring the matter to the attention of the other countries of the Union. ARTICLE 28 (1) This Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications deposited at Brussels, not later than the 1st July, 1951. The ratifications, with the dates thereof and all declarations which may accompany them, shall be communicated by the Belgian Government to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, which shall notify the other countries of the Union thereof. (2) This Convention shall come into force, between the countries which have ratified it, one month after the 1st July 1951. Nevertheless, if before that date it has been ratified by at least six countries of the Union, it shall come into force between those countries one month after the notification to them by the Government of the Swiss Confederation of the deposit of the sixth ratification and, in the case of countries which ratify thereafter, one month after the notification of each of such ratifications. (3) Until the 1st July 1951, countries outside the Union may join it by acceding either to the Convention signed at Rome on the 2nd June 1928, or to this Convention. On or after the 1st July 1951, they may accede only to this Convention. The countries of the Union which shall not have ratified this Convention by the 1st July 1951, may accede thereto in accordance with the procedure provided by Article 25. In this event they shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of Article 27, paragraph (2). ARTICLE 29 (1) This Convention shall remain in force for an indefinite period. Nevertheless, each country of the Union shall be entitled to denounce it at any time, by means of a notification in writing addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation. (2) This denunciation, which shall be communicated by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to all the other countries of the Union, shall take effect only in respect of the country making it, and twelve months after the receipt of the notification of denunciation addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation. The Convention shall remain in full force and effect for the other countries of the Union. (3) The right of denunciation provided by this Article shall not be exercised by any country before the expiry of five years from the date of its ratification or accession. ARTICLE 30 (1) Countries which introduce into their legislation the term of protection of fifty years provided by Article 7, paragraph (1), of this Convention shall give notice thereof in writing to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, which shall immediately communicate it to all the other countries of the Union. (2) The same procedure shall be followed in the case of countries abandoning the reservations made or maintained by them in accordance with Articles 25 and 27. ARTICLE 31 The official Acts of the Conferences shall be established in French. An equivalent text shall be established in English. In case of dispute as to the interpretation of the Acts, the French text shall always prevail. Any country or group of countries of the Union shall be entitled to have established by the International Office an authoritative text of the said Acts in the language of its choice, and by arrangement with the Office. These texts shall be published in the Acts of the Conferences, annexed to the French and English texts. In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Convention. Done at Brussels, the 26th day of June, 1948, in a single copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Belgium. A copy, duly certified, shall be transmitted by the diplomatic channel to each country of the Union. [Signed on behalf of the following countries:- Canada Australia (Ad referendum) New Zealand South Africa, Union of Iceland Italy Lebanon Liechtenstein India Pakistan Irish Republic Austria Belgium Brazil Czechoslovakia Denmark Finland France Greece Holy See Hungary Luxembourg Morocco Monaco Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Spain Switzerland Syria AGREEMENT of the African Postal Union, as amended.— Cape Town, 27th November, 1948(1) AGREEMENT concluded between the Administrations named below: Angola. Basutoland. Bechuanaland Protectorate. Belgian Congo, including Ruanda and Urundi. Cameroons, under French trusteeship. (1) South African Treaty Series No. 25 (1948). |