CHAPTER XXVI

DISARMAMENT2aAdditional Protocol to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which may be deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects (Protocol IV, entitled Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons)Vienna, 13 October 1995Entry into force30 July 1998, in accordance with article 2 of the Additional Protocol.Registration30 July 1998, No. 22495StatusParties101TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series</i>, vol. 1380, p. 370; Doc. CCW/CONF.I/16 Part I).At its 8 plenary meeting on 13 October 1995, the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects adopted pursuant to article 8.3 (b) of the Convention an additional Protocol entitled "Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons (Protocol IV)".

ParticipantConsent to be bound(P), Succession(d)Albania28 Aug 2002 PAntigua and Barbuda23 Aug 2010 PArgentina21 Oct 1998 PAustralia22 Aug 1997 PAustria27 Jul 1998 PBangladesh 6 Sep 2000 PBelarus13 Sep 2000 PBelgium10 Mar 1999 PBolivia (Plurinational State of)21 Sep 2001 PBosnia and Herzegovina11 Oct 2001 PBrazil 4 Oct 1999 PBulgaria 3 Dec 1998 PBurkina Faso26 Nov 2003 PCambodia25 Mar 1997 PCameroon 7 Dec 2006 PCanada 5 Jan 1998 PCape Verde16 Sep 1997 PChile15 Oct 2003 PChina 4 Nov 1998 PColombia 6 Mar 2000 PCosta Rica17 Dec 1998 PCroatia25 Apr 2002 PCuba14 Nov 2012 PCyprus22 Jul 2003 PCzech Republic10 Aug 1998 PDenmark30 Apr 1997 PDominican Republic21 Jun 2010 PEcuador16 Dec 2003 PEl Salvador26 Jan 2000 PEstonia20 Apr 2000 PFinland11 Jan 1996 PFrance30 Jun 1998 PGabon22 Sep 2010 PGeorgia14 Jul 2006 PGermany27 Jun 1997 PGreece 5 Aug 1997 PGuatemala30 Aug 2002 PGuinea-Bissau 6 Aug 2008 PHoly See22 Jul 1997 PHonduras30 Oct 2003 PHungary30 Jan 1998 PIceland22 Aug 2008 PIndia 2 Sep 1999 PIreland27 Mar 1997 PIsrael30 Oct 2000 PItaly13 Jan 1999 PJamaica25 Sep 2008 PJapan10 Jun 1997 PKazakhstan 8 Jul 2009 PLatvia11 Mar 1998 PLiberia16 Sep 2005 PLiechtenstein19 Nov 1997 PLithuania 3 Jun 1998 PLuxembourg 5 Aug 1999 PMadagascar14 Mar 2008 PMaldives 7 Sep 2000 PMali24 Oct 2001 PMalta24 Sep 2004 PMauritius24 Dec 2002 PMexico10 Mar 1998 PMongolia 6 Apr 1999 PMontenegro<superscript>1</superscript>23 Oct 2006 dMorocco19 Mar 2002 PNauru12 Nov 2001 PNetherlands<superscript>2</superscript>25 Mar 1999 PNew Zealand 8 Jan 1998 PNicaragua 5 Dec 2000 PNiger18 Sep 2007 PNorway20 Apr 1998 PPakistan 5 Dec 2000 PPanama26 Mar 1997 PParaguay 3 Dec 2008 PPeru 3 Jul 1997 PPhilippines12 Jun 1997 PPoland23 Sep 2004 PPortugal12 Nov 2001 PQatar16 Nov 2009 PRepublic of Moldova 8 Sep 2000 PRomania25 Aug 2003 PRussian Federation 9 Sep 1999 PSaudi Arabia 7 Dec 2007 PSerbia12 Aug 2003 PSeychelles 8 Jun 2000 PSierra Leone30 Sep 2004 PSlovakia30 Nov 1999 PSlovenia 3 Dec 2002 PSouth Africa26 Jun 1998 PSpain19 Jan 1998 PSri Lanka24 Sep 2004 PSt. Vincent and the Grenadines 6 Dec 2010 PSweden15 Jan 1997 PSwitzerland24 Mar 1998 PTajikistan12 Oct 1999 PThe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia19 Mar 2007 PTunisia23 Mar 2006 PTurkey 2 Mar 2005 PUkraine28 May 2003 PUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland11 Feb 1999 PUnited States of America21 Jan 2009 PUruguay18 Sep 1998 PUzbekistan29 Sep 1997 PAustraliaDeclaration:"It is the understanding of the Government of Australia that the provisions of Protocol IV shall apply in all circumstances."AustriaDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]BelgiumDeclaration:It is the understanding of the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium that the provisions of Protocol IV which by their contents or nature may also be applied in peacetime, shall be observed at all times.Canada<superscript>3</superscript><right>19 October 1998</right>Declaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]GermanyDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]GreeceDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]IrelandDeclaration in relation to article 1:"It is the understanding of Ireland that the provisions of the Additional Protocol which by their contents or nature may also be applied in peacetime, shall be observed at all times."IsraelDeclaration:“With reference to the scope of application defined in Article 1 of the Convention, the Government of the State of Israel will apply the provisions of the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons as well as the Convention and those annexed Protocols to which Israel has agreed to become bound, to all armed conflicts involving regular armed forces of States referred to in article 2 common to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, as well as to all armed conflicts referred to in Article 3 common to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949.”ItalyDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]LiechtensteinDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]NetherlandsDeclaration:With regard to Article 1:“The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands takes the view that the provisions of Protocol IV which, given their content or nature, can also be applied in peacetime must be observed in all circumstances.”PolandDeclaration:The Republic of Poland believes that the provisions of the Additional Protocol should also be applied during peacetime.South AfricaDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Ireland.]SwedenDeclarations:"--Sweden intends to apply the Protocol to all types of armed conflict;- -Sweden intends to pursue an international agreement by which the provisions of the Protocol shall be applicable to all types of armed conflict;-- Sweden has since long strived for explicit prohibition of the use of blinding laser which would risk causing permanent blindness to soldiers. Such an effect, in Sweden's view is contrary to the principle of international law prohibiting means and methods of warfare which cause unnecessary suffering."SwitzerlandDeclaration:[Same declaration, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made by Australia.]United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandDeclaration:''In relation to Protocol IV, the Government of the United Kingdom declare that their application of its provisions will not be limited to the situations set out in Article 1 of the [1980] Convention."United States of AmericaUnderstanding:“It is the understanding of the United States of America with respect to Article 2 that any decision by any military commander, military personnel, or any other person responsible for planning, authorizing or executing military action shall only be judged on the basis of that person’s assessment of the information reasonably available to the person at the time the person planned, authorized orexecuted the action under review, and shall not be judged on the basis of information that comes to light after the action under review was taken.”1See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.2For the Kingdom in Europe.3In keeping with the depositary practice followed in similar cases, the Secretary-General proposed to receive the declaration for deposit in the absence of any objection on the part of the Contracting States, either to the deposit itself or to the procedure envisaged, within a period of 90 days from the date of its circulation (i.e. 21 July 1998). None of the Contracting Parties to the Protocol having notified the Secretary-General of an objection within the 90 days period, the declaration was deemed to have been accepted for deposit upon the expiration of the 90 day period in question, i.e. on 19 october 1998.