Article 47 AMENDMENTS

General comments

1. Any Party may propose an amendment to this Convention. The text of any such amendment and the reasons therefor shall be communicated to the Secretary-General who shall communicate them to the Parties and to the Council. The Council may decide either:
(a) That a conference shall be called in accordance with Article 62, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations to consider the proposed amendment; or
(b) That the Parties shall be asked whether they accept the proposed amendment and also asked to submit to the Council any comments on the proposal.

2. If a proposed amendment circulated under paragraph 1 (b) of this article has not been rejected by any Party within eighteen months after it has been circulated, it shall thereupon enter into force. If
however a proposed amendment is rejected by any Party, the Council may decide, in the light of comments received from Parties, whether a conference shall be called to consider such amendment.

Commentary

1. The question arises whether the Single Convention can be amended by any other procedure than that outlined in article 47. It is submitted that the answer must be in the affirmative. The article does not mention that the Council may submit proposed amendments to the General Assembly of the United Nations for consideration and possible adoption in accordance with Article 62, paragraph 3 of the United Nations Charter. The Drafting Committee of the Plenipotentiary Conference pointed out that nothing in the amendment article was intended to or could possibly affect the power of the Council under that paragraph to submit draft conventions to the General Assembly,1 it being understood that proposed amendments would be such "draft conventions". Not only could the procedure provided in Article 62, paragraph 3 of the Charter be applied, in addition to that provided for in article 47, but any other procedure by which multilateral treaties can be revised under international law, always provided that no amendment, however adopted, would be binding upon a Party not accepting it. 2 It may in particular be mentioned that the General Assembly may itself take the initiative in amending the Convention, either by itself adopting the revisions, or by calling a Plenipotentiary Conference for this purpose. 3

2. It is also submitted that article 47 does not prevent the Council from taking, in accordance with its powers under the United Nations Charter, any of the possible actions on a proposed amendment, in addition to those provided for in this article. It may in particular also refuse to act on a proposal to revise the Convention. 4

3. It was undoubtedly the understanding of the Plenipotentiary Conference that the Council would consult the Commission on Narcotic Drugs before taking a decision under article 47. It was therefore found not to be necessary to provide in the treaty expressly for such a consultation. 5 The Council has, however, no legal obligation to obtain the views of the Commission before taking action under the terms of article 47, although this might generally be advisable. In fact, in its resolution 1577 (L) dated 20 May 1971, the Council decided under article 62, paragraph 4 of the Charter to call a Plenipotentiary Conference to consider amendments to the Single Convention, without first consulting the Commission. It requested the Commission, however, to study the amendments and to make appropriate comments to the Plenipotentiary Conference. 6

4. For the rules prescribed by the General Assembly for the Council's calling international conferences of States on matters falling within the Council's competence, see General Assembly resolution 366 (IV) of 3 December 1949 in connexion with article 62, paragraph 4 of the Charter.

5. For the procedure to amend the Schedules of the Single Convention,
see article 3 of the Convention. The Schedules can, however, also be revised by any other method by which the Single Convention can be modified, in particular also by the procedure pursuant to article 47, paragraph 1, subparagraph (b). The application of article 3 has, however, not only the advantage of possible greater speed, but also that of making revisions operative in respect of Parties which do not agree to the changes.

6. The period of eighteen months mentioned in paragraph 2 commences to run from the date on which the Secretary-General transmits to the Parties the Council's decision taken pursuant to paragraph 1, subparagraph (b). The Secretary-General should indicate in his notification of this decision the date of its dispatch, and the notifications to all Parties should be sent on the same day. A rejection may be mailed or handed over by messenger to the Secretary-General within this period. It would be conducive to the proper functioning of this procedure if Parties would transmit any rejections to the Secretary-General 7 through a member of their delegation to the United Nations. s Otherwise, the possibility of delay or even of loss in the mail may render it difficult to establish without a considerable delay on which day the amendment has entered into force, and even whether it has come into effect at all. It is suggested that Parties which nevertheless choose to send their rejections by the post should do so by registered air mail and request a return receipt.

1 Records, vol. II, p. 291, foot-note 60; this view was not disputed, Records, vol. 1, p. 213.

2 Or not rejecting it as provided in article 47, para. 2.

3 See also above, comments on article 7; as regards the right of the General Assembly, implicit in the provisions of the Charter, to initiate conventions, see Goodrich and others, op. cit., p. 416.

4 The Council's right to refuse further action on an amendment rejected by one or more Parties in the procedure pursuant to article 47, para. 1, subpara. (b) and para. 2 is definitely recognized in para. 2.

5 Records, vol. I, pp. 176 to 177; see also article 22, para. 2 of the 1953 Protocol.

6 The Council took this direct action on the initiative of the United States of America, which proposed amendments to the Single Convention; see documents E/4971 and Add. 1; see also document A/8403, paras. 601-607.

7 Or to a member of the United Nations secretariat authorized to receive communications on behalf of the Secretary-General.

8 Including delegations to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva.