Duration and withdrawal
Stuart Casey-Maslen, Gro Nystuen · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2010
This Article focuses on two aspects, as indicated by its title. First, it defines that the duration of the Convention is unlimited in time. Second, it recalls that any State Party has the right to withdraw from the Convention, and defines under which conditions a State can lawfully do so. The first three paragraphs of this Article are exactly the same as the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention2 and the Draft Cluster Munitions Convention submitted to the Dublin Diplomatic Conference. However, both texts also included a fourth paragraph, reading as follows: The withdrawal of a State Party from this Convention shall not in any way affect the duty of States to continue fulfilling the obligations assumed under any relevant rules of international law. The deletion of this paragraph was the main subject of discussion during the negotiation of Article 20.