Article 46 DENUNCIATION

1. After the expiry of two years from the date of the coming into force of this Convention (article 41, paragraph 1), any Party may, on its own behalf or on behalf of a territory for which it has inter national responsibility, and which has withdrawn its consent given in accordance with article 42, denounce this Convention by an instrument in writing deposited with the Secretary-General.

2. The denunciation, if received by the Secretary-General on or before the first day of July in any year, shall take effect on the first day of January in the succeeding year, and if received after the first day of July, shall take effect as if it had been received on or before the first day of July in the succeeding year.

3. This Convention shall be terminated if, as a result of denunciations made in accordance with paragraph 1, the conditions for its coming into force as laid down in article 41, paragraph 1, cease to exist.

Commentary

1. The two years from the date of the coming into force of the Single Convention ended on 12 December 1966, the Convention having entered into force on 13 December 1964.1

2. It would be in accordance with the spirit of article 42 to assume that a Party is bound to denounce the Convention on behalf of a territory 2 for which it has international responsibility if that territory has withdrawn its consent given in accordance with article 42. A Party cannot separately denounce the Convention on behalf of a territory whose consent is not required under the Party's or territory's Constitution or by custom for the treaty's application to the territory. A Party denouncing the Convention on its own behalf cannot exclude from its denunciation any of its territories, including those whose agreement is needed for the application of the Convention to them, even if the latter have not withdrawn their consent given in accordance with article 42.

3. All denunciations take effect on the first day of a calendar year, a minimum period of a full six months being required between the date of their receipt by the Secretary-General and the day on which they become effective. All denunciations received on or before 1 July of a given calendar year thus take effect on 1 January of the immediately following year, and those received between 2 July and 31 December of the calendar year become effective on 1 January of the second subsequent year. This provision is motivated by the considerations that Parties are bound to furnish estimates of their drug requirements 3 and their statistical returns 4 other than those relating to their international trade s for each calendar year, and that the maximum amounts of drugs which they may acquire by manufacture or import or both are computed by the calendar year. 6

4. Without the express provision of paragraph 3 the Convention would not cease to be in force under the conditions provided in this paragraph. 7
 

1 See above, foot-note 2 to comments on articles 40 and 41.

2 Here as in the last sentence of article 1, para. 1, subpara. (y), the qualifying word "non-metropolitan" is omitted.

3 Article 19.

4 Article 20, para. 1, subpara. (a-e), (e) and (f), and para. 2, subpara. (a).

5 Article 20, para. 1, subpara. (d) and para. 2, subpara. (b).

6 Article 21, paras. 1 to 3; see also article 32 of the 1931 Convention, article 9 of the 1948 Protocol and article 23 of the 1953 Protocol; see however article 24 of the 1936 Convention.

7 Article 55 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, referred to in foot-note 2 to the comments on article 44.