Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization

 

ARTICLE XVII
Legal status, privileges and immunities

1. The Organization shall be an independent intergovernmental organization
having the capacity of a legal person to perform any legal act that is necessary
or useful for the carrying out of its functions or for the exercise of its
powers under this Convention. Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing sentence and, within the limits of Article XIV.4, the Organization
shall have the Capacity to Contract , acquire and dispose of immovable and
movable property and to be a party to legal proceedings.

2. Each Contracting Party shall grant:

a) to the Organization and its property, funds and assets such privileges,
immunities and facilities as may be appropriate to enable the Organization to
carry out its activities; and

b) to representatives of any State or intergovernmental organization performing
official duties in connection with the work of the Organization, and to the
Executive Secretary, the Deputy Executive Secretary and other staff of the
Organization, such privileges, immunities and facilities as may be necessary to
enable them to perform their official duties.
3. Disputes arising out of any agreement – including terms and conditions of
employment – between the Organization and any natural person or legal entity
which cannot be settled by negotiation or conciliation and in relation to which
the Organization has not waived its immunity from legal process, shall, unless
the parties to the dispute have agreed on some other mode of settlement, be
submitted to arbitration in accordance with rules which shall be established by
the Council of Ministers.

4. In any case where immunity conferred upon a person pursuant to this Article
or to the Annex to this Convention would impede the course of justice and can be
waived without prejudice to the interests of the Organization, such immunity
shall be waived by a Contracting Party in the case of its representative, by the
Council of Ministers or the Executive Committee in the case of the Executive
Secretary and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Organization, and by the
Executive Secretary in the case of other staff of the Organization.

ARTICLE XVIII
Cooperation with other organizations and institutions

1. The Organization shall cooperate with other intergovernmental organizations
and institutions, especially those active in the sector of fisheries, which
might contribute to the work and further the objectives of the Organization. To
this end, the Executive Secretary, acting under the authority of the Executive
Committee, may establish working relations with such organizations or
institutions and make such arrangements as may be necessary to ensure effective
cooperation. Any formal agreements or memoranda of understanding proposed to be
entered into with such organizations or institutions shall be subject to the
approval of the Council of Ministers.

2. The Organization will continue its working relationship with the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and promote collaboration
with other United Nations agencies.

ARTICLE XIX
Signature, ratification, accession and entry into force

1. The riparian States of the Lake Victoria may become Parties to this
Convention by:

a) signing this Convention followed by the deposit of an instrument of
ratification; or

b) deposit of an instrument of accession.

2. This Convention shall be open for signature at Kisumu (Kenya) on 1 July 1994
and thereafter at the Headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations in Rome.

3. Instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with the
Director-General of FAO.
4. This Convention shall enter into force on the date of the deposit of the
third instrument of ratification or accession.

ARTICLE XX
Amendment

1. Proposals for amendments to this Convention shall be made in writing by a
Contracting Party to the Depositary, who shall notify the proposal to the other
Contracting Parties and to the Executive Secretary of the Organization.

2. No proposal for amendment shall be considered by the Council of Ministers
unless it has been notified by the Depositary to the Contracting Parties at
least ninety days before the opening day of the Council of Ministers’ session at
which it is to be considered.

3. The Executive Secretary shall promptly notify the Depositary of the adoption
of the amendment. Amendments shall be adopted by unanimous vote.

4. An amendment shall take effect thirty days after it has been adopted by the
Council of Ministers.

ARTICLE XXI
Withdrawal and termination

1. The Convention shall remain in force unless two of the Contracting Parties
have withdrawn.

2. A Contracting Party may withdraw from this Convention at any time after the
expiry of two years from the date upon which the Convention entered into force,
by giving written notice of such withdrawal to the Depositary who shall
immediately inform the other Contracting Parties. Withdrawal shall become
effective at the end of the calendar year following that in which the notice of
withdrawal has been received by the Depositary.

ARTICLE XXII
Interpretation and Settlement of Disputes

Any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention
which cannot be settled by negotiation, conciliation or similar means, shall be
submitted to arbitration at the request of any Contracting Party. The parties to
the dispute shall appoint one arbitrator each. The two arbitrators so appointed
shall designate by mutual agreement the third arbitrator, who shall be the
President of the Arbitral Tribunal. If one of the parties to the dispute does
not appoint an arbitrator within two months of the appointment of the first
arbitrator, or if the President of the Arbitral Tribunal has not been appointed
within two months of the appointment of the second arbitrator, the Chairman of
the Council of Ministers shall appoint the second arbitrator, or the President
of the Arbitral Tribunal as the case may be. The decision of the Arbitral
Tribunal shall be final.
ARTICLE XXIII
Depositary

1. The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations shall be the Depositary of this Convention. The Depositary shall:

a) send certified true copies of this Convention to the Contracting Parties and
to any other government which so requests;

b) arrange for the registration of this Convention, upon its entry into force,
with the Secretariat of the United Nations in accordance with Article 102 of the
Charter of the United Nations ;

c) inform the Contracting Parties of:

i) the signing of the Convention and the deposit of instruments of ratification
or accession in accordance with Article XIX.1;

ii) the date of entry into force of this Convention in accordance with Article
XIX.4;

iii) proposals for amendments to this Convention and the adoption of amendments,
in accordance with Article XX;

iv) notices of withdrawal from the Organization in accordance with Article
XXI.2; and

v) any other notification received from the Governments of the States
participating in the Convention.

2. The original text of this Convention shall be deposited in the
archives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome.

ARTICLE XXIV
Annex

The Headquarters Agreement which constitutes the Annex to this Convention is
an integral part of the Convention.

Done at Kisumu on 30 June 1994 in a single copy in the English language.

 

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Capacity to Contract, Charter of the United Nations, Convention for the Establishment of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, Settlement of Disputes.