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STATUS AS AT : 19-05-2025 11:16:47 EDT
CHAPTER VIII
OBSCENE PUBLICATIONS
2. Convention for the Suppression of the Circulation of, and Traffic in, Obscene Publications, concluded at Geneva on 12 September 1923 and amended by the Protocol signed at Lake Success, New York, on 12 November 1947
New York, 12 November 1947
Entry into force
:
2 February 1950, in accordance with article 9 , the date on which the amendments set forth in the annex to the Protocol of 12 November 1947, entered into force in accordance with paragraph 2 of article V of the Protocol.
Registration :
2 February 1950, No. 710
Status :
Parties : 57
Text : Certified true copy

United Nations,  Treaty Series , vol. 46, p. 201.

Note :

Participant
Definitive signature of the Protocol, Succession to the Convention and the Protocol, Acceptance of the Protocol, Acceptance ipso facto by virtue of article 10 (1) of the Convention of 12 September 1923, as amended(A)
Succession to the Convention as amended by the Protocol(d), Accession to the Convention as amended by the Protocol(a), Ratification of the Convention as amended by the Protocol
Afghanistan
12 Nov 1947
 
Albania
25 Jul 1949
 
Australia
13 Nov 1947
 
Austria
 4 Aug 1950
 
Belarus
   8 Sep 1998 d
Belgium
12 Nov 1947
 
Brazil
 3 Apr 1950
 
Cambodia
  30 Mar 1959 a
Canada
24 Nov 1947
 
China 1, 2
12 Nov 1947
 
Cuba
 2 Dec 1983
 
Cyprus
  16 May 1963 d
Czech Republic 3
  30 Dec 1993 d
Democratic Republic of the Congo
  31 May 1962 d
Denmark 4
[21 Nov 1949 ]
 
Egypt
12 Nov 1947
 
Fiji
 1 Nov 1971
 
Finland
 6 Jan 1949
 
Ghana
   7 Apr 1958 d
Greece
 5 Apr 1960
 
Guatemala
26 Aug 1949
 
Haiti
  26 Aug 1953
Hungary
 2 Feb 1950
 
India
12 Nov 1947
 
Ireland
28 Feb 1952
 
Italy
16 Jun 1949
 
Jamaica
  30 Jul 1964 d
Jordan
  11 May 1959 a
Kazakhstan
   3 Sep 2024 a
Lesotho
  28 Nov 1975 d
Liberia 5
16 Sep 2005 A
 
Luxembourg
14 Mar 1955
 
Madagascar
  10 Apr 1963 a
Malawi
  22 Jul 1965 a
Malaysia
  21 Aug 1958 d
Malta
  24 Mar 1967 d
Mauritius
  18 Jul 1969 d
Mexico
 4 Feb 1948
 
Montenegro 6
  23 Oct 2006 d
Myanmar
13 May 1949
 
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 7
[  7 Mar 1949 ]
 
New Zealand 8
28 Oct 1948
 
Nigeria
  26 Jun 1961 d
Norway
28 Nov 1947
 
Pakistan
12 Nov 1947
 
Poland
21 Dec 1950
 
Romania
 2 Nov 1950
 
Russian Federation
18 Dec 1947
 
Serbia 9
  12 Mar 2001 d
Sierra Leone
  13 Mar 1962 d
Slovakia 3
  28 May 1993 d
Solomon Islands
   3 Sep 1981 d
South Africa
12 Nov 1947
 
Sri Lanka
  15 Apr 1958 a
Trinidad and Tobago
  11 Apr 1966 d
Türkiye
12 Nov 1947
 
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1
16 May 1949
 
United Republic of Tanzania
  28 Nov 1962 a
Zambia
   1 Nov 1974 d
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Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Reservation:

       “The Republic of Kazakhstan undertakes obligations for the implementation of Article 5 of the Convention only within the framework of its existing national legislation.”

End Note
1On 6 and 10 June 1997, the Secretary-General received communications regarding the status of Hong Kong from China and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with regard to the Convention (chapter VIII-3) and Protocol (chapter VIII-1)(see also note 2 under "China" and note 2 under "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume. Upon resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, China notified the Secretary-General that the Convention and the Protocol will also apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

2See note concerning signatures, ratifications, accessions, etc., on behalf of China  (note 1 under “China” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume).

3Czechoslovakia, by virtue of its definitive signature of the Protocol of 12 November 1947 amending the Convention of 1923, was a participant in the Convention on that same date. See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.

4A notification of denunciation was received on 16 August 1967.  In communicating this notification, the Government of Denmark has informed the Secretary-General that the denunciation was intended to apply also in relation to the States parties to the 1923 Convention (chapter VIII.3) which had not yet become parties to the Protocol of 12 November 1947 amending the said Convention (chapter VIII.1).  The denunciation took effect on 16 August 1968.

5Ratification of or accession to the Convention of 12 September 1923 shall ipso facto, and without special notification, involve concomitant and full acceptance of the Agreement of 4 May 1910 [...]

6See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

7On 30 July 1985, the Secretary-General received from the Government of the Netherlands a notification of denunciation of the said  Protocol and Convention.  The notification specifies that the denunciation shall apply in respect of the Kingdom in Europe only and that the Protocol and the Convention will therefore remain in force in the Netherlands Antilles.  The notification also indicated that the reason for the denunciation is the following:
". . . under the Act of 3 July 1985 (Bulletin of Acts, Orders and Decrees No. 385) the provisions of the Dutch Criminal Code were amended in such a way that it is no longer possible for the Netherlands to comply fully with the international obligations it assumed under the Convention.  Article I of the Convention contains -  inter alia - the obligation to make it a punishable offence to make, produce or have in possession, to import, convey or export obscene publications or any other obscene objects for the purposes of distribution or public exhibition.
"The new provisions of the Dutch Criminal Code fulfill this requirement only with regard to the portrayal of - or to any medium of information which portrays - sexual activity involving persons under the age of sixteen (i.e. child pornography). As regards the other forms of pornography, the shop windows, to send such images or objects unsolicited through the mail or to supply, offer or show them to children.  Since the Convention does not contain any provision which would allow the Netherlands to make punishable only those offences included in the amended Criminal Code, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands has no other choice than to denounce the Convention for the Netherlands."

8See note 1 under "New Zealand" regarding Tokelau in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

9The former Yugoslavia had signed the Protocol definitively on 12 November 1947. See also note 1 under "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

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