INTRODUCTION

Article 22 regulates the entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). It describes the time and manner under which a State’s formal expression of its consent to be bound by the ATT takes full effect and renders the Treaty legally binding on the parties to the Treaty. Paragraph 1 contains the conditions for the objective entry into force of the ATT. Paragraph 2 describes the subjective entry into force of the ATT for a State that expresses its consent to be bound after the entry into force of the Treaty. An entry into force provision comprising these two components is generally found in the final clauses of international treaties. Article 22 is complemented by Article 23 allowing for the provisional application of Articles 6 and 7 of the ATT before its entry into force.

The ATT opened for signature on 3 June 2013. The threshold of ratification needed to bring the ATT into force was set at fifty, which was achieved on 25 September 2014 after the joint deposit of instruments of ratification by Argentina, Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Portugal, Senegal, St. Lucia, and Uruguay. In accordance with Article 22(1), the ATT entered into force ninety days later, on 24 December 2014.

NEGOTIATING HISTORY

The first draftof Article 22 can be found in the Chair’s non-paper included as an Annex in the 2012 Report of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations (UN) Conference on the ATT (UNGA, 2012, Annex II).