Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

1968 United Nations treaty

Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
Signed	26 November 1968
Location	New York City, United States
Effective	11 November 1970
Condition	10 ratifications
Parties	55

The Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by United Nations General Assembly resolution 2391 (XXIII) of 26 November 1968. Pursuant to the provisions of its Article VIII (90 days following the deposit of the tenth ratification), it came into force on 11 November 1970.

The Convention provides that no signatory state may apply statutory limitations to:

War crimes as they are defined in the Charter of the Nürnberg International Military Tribunal of 8 August 1945.
Crimes against humanity, whether committed in time of war or in time of peace, as defined in the Charter of the Nürnberg International Military Tribunal, eviction by armed attack or occupation, inhuman acts resulting from the policy of apartheid, and the crime of genocide as defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

As of December 2020, with the adhesion of Ecuador, the convention has 56 state parties, which includes 55 UN member states and the State of Palestine.

Member states

Signatories
- Poland, signed on 16/12/1968, ratified on 14/02/1969
- Russia, signed on 06/01/1969, ratified on 22/04/1969
- Belarus, signed on 07/01/1969, ratified on 08/05/1969
- Bulgaria, signed on 21/01/1969, ratified on 21/05/1969
- Mongolia, signed on 31/01/1969, ratified on 21/05/1969
- Ukraine, signed on 14/01/1969, ratified on 19/06/1969
- Hungary, signed on 25/03/1969, ratified on 24/06/1969
- Romania, signed on 17/04/1969, ratified on 15/09/1969
- Ex Yugoslavia, signed on 16/12/1968, ratified on 09/06/1970
- Ex Czechoslovakia, signed on 21/05/1969, ratified on 13/08/1970
- Mexico, signed on 03/07/1969, ratified on 15/03/2002
Adherents
- Nigeria, adhered on 01/12/1970
- India, adhered on 12/01/1971
- Albania, adhered on 19/05/1971
- Guinea, adhered on 07/06/1971
- Kenya, adhered on 01/05/1972
- Tunisia, adhered on 15/06/1972
- Cuba, adhered on 13/09/1972
- Cameroon, adhered on 06/10/1972
- Philippines, adhered on 15/05/1973
- Rwanda, adhered on 16/04/1975
- Gambia, adhered on 29/12/1978
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, adhered on 09/11/1981
- Vietnam, adhered on 06/05/1983
- Afghanistan, adhered on 22/07/1983
- Bolivia, adhered on 06/10/1983
- North Korea, adhered on 08/11/1984
- Laos, adhered on 28/12/1984
- Nicaragua, adhered on 03/09/1986
- Yemen, adhered on 09/02/1987
- Libya, adhered on 16/05/1989
- Estonia, adhered on 21/10/1991
- Latvia, adhered on 14/04/1992
- Slovenia, adhered on 06/07/1992^[a]
- Croatia, adhered on 12/10/1992^[a]
- Moldova, adhered on 26/01/1993
- Czech Republic, adhered on 22/02/1993^[b]
- Slovakia, adhered on 28/05/1993^[b]
- Armenia, adhered on 23/06/1993
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, adhered on 01/09/1993^[a]
- North Macedonia, adhered on 18/01/1994^[a]
- Kuwait, adhered on 07/03/1995
- Georgia, adhered on 31/03/1995
- Lithuania, adhered on 01/02/1996
- Azerbaijan, adhered on 16/08/1996
- Ghana, adhered on 07/09/2000
- Serbia, adhered on 12/03/2001^[a]
- Uruguay, adhered on 21/09/2001
- Peru, adhered on 11/08/2003
- Argentina, adhered on 26/08/2003
- Liberia, adhered on 16/09/2005
- Montenegro, adhered on 23/10/2006
- Panama, adhered on 21/06/2007
- Paraguay, adhered on 23/09/2008
- Costa Rica, adhered on 27/04/2009
- Honduras, adhered on 16/08/2010
- State of Palestine, adhered on 02/01/2015
- Ecuador, adhered on 01/12/2020

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 16 December 1968 and 9 June 1970, respectively.
^ ^a ^b The former Czechoslovakia had signed and ratified the Convention on 21 May 1969 and 13 August 1970, respectively, with a declaration.

External links

Convention text (UNHCHR)
Convention text UNITED NATIONS
Signatories and ratifications Archived 2018-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
Procedural history and related documents on the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

International human rights instruments

Declarations, manifestos, and resolutions
Brazilian Resolution Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam Declaration of Montreal Declaration of the Rights of the Child Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (DEDAW) Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man Paris Principles Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) Yogyakarta Principles Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP)

Declarations, manifestos, and resolutions

International law
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV) Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples Convention against Torture Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Convention on the Political Rights of Women Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Convention on the Rights of the Child Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

International law

Regional law
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Convention for the Prevention of Torture European Convention on Nationality Convention for the Protection of National Minorities Social Charter Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) American Convention on Human Rights Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Belém do Pará Convention)

Regional law

International humanitarian law
Genocide Convention Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness Geneva Conventions Hague Conventions Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court