identifier: ETS No. 163

reference: ETS No. 163

title: European Social Charter (revised)

text: European Treaty Series - No. 163

text: European Social Charter (Revised)

text: Strasbourg, 3.V.1996

text: Preamble

text: The governments signatory hereto, being members of the Council of Europe,

text: Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is the achievement of greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and of facilitating their economic and social progress, in particular by the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

text: Considering that in the

text: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

text: signed at Rome on 4 November 1950, and the Protocols thereto, the member States of the Council of Europe agreed to secure to their populations the civil and political rights and freedoms therein specified;

text: Considering that in the European Social Charter opened for signature in Turin on 18 October 1961 and the Protocols thereto, the member States of the Council of Europe agreed to secure to their populations the social rights specified therein in order to improve their standard of living and their social well-being;

text: Recalling that the Ministerial Conference on Human Rights held in Rome on 5 November 1990 stressed the need, on the one hand, to preserve the indivisible nature of all human rights, be they civil, political, economic, social or cultural and, on the other hand, to give the European Social Charter fresh impetus;

text: Resolved, as was decided during the Ministerial Conference held in Turin on 21 and 22 October 1991, to update and adapt the substantive contents of the Charter in order to take account in particular of the fundamental social changes which have occurred since the text was adopted;

text: Recognising the advantage of embodying in a Revised Charter, designed progressively to take the place of the European Social Charter, the rights guaranteed by the Charter as amended, the rights guaranteed by the Additional Protocol of 1988 and to add new rights,

text: Have agreed as follows:

text: Part I

text: The Parties accept as the aim of their policy, to be pursued by all appropriate means both national and international in character, the attainment of conditions in which the following rights and principles may be effectively realised:

text: 1 Everyone shall have the opportunity to earn his living in an occupation freely entered upon.

text: ETS 163 – European Social Charter (Revised), 03.V.1996 __________________________________________________________________________________

text: 2 All workers have the right to just conditions of work. 3 All workers have the right to safe and healthy working conditions. 4 All workers have the right to a fair remuneration sufficient for a decent standard of living for themselves and their families. 5 All workers and employers have the right to freedom of association in national or international organisations for the protection of their economic and social interests. 6 All workers and employers have the right to bargain collectively. 7 Children and young persons have the right to a special protection against the physical and moral hazards to which they are exposed. 8 Employed women, in case of maternity, have the right to a special protection. 9 Everyone has the right to appropriate facilities for vocational guidance with a view to helping him choose an occupation suited to his personal aptitude and interests. 10 Everyone has the right to appropriate facilities for vocational training. 11 Everyone has the right to benefit from any measures enabling him to enjoy the highest possible standard of health attainable. 12 All workers and their dependents have the right to social security. 13 Anyone without adequate resources has the right to social and medical assistance. 14 Everyone has the right to benefit from social welfare services. 15 Disabled persons have the right to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community. 16 The family as a fundamental unit of society has the right to appropriate social, legal and economic protection to ensure its full development. 17 Children and young persons have the right to appropriate social, legal and economic protection. 18 The nationals of any one of the Parties have the right to engage in any gainful occupation in the territory of any one of the others on a footing of equality with the nationals of the latter, subject to restrictions based on cogent economic or social reasons. 19 Migrant workers who are nationals of a Party and their families have the right to protection and assistance in the territory of any other Party. 20 All workers have the right to equal opportunities and equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation without discrimination on the grounds of sex. 21 Workers have the right to be informed and to be consulted within the undertaking. 22 Workers have the right to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment in the undertaking.

text: 23 Every elderly person has the right to social protection. 24 All workers have the right to protection in cases of termination of employment. 25 All workers have the right to protection of their claims in the event of the insolvency of their employer. 26 All workers have the right to dignity at work. 27 All persons with family responsibilities and who are engaged or wish to engage in employment have a right to do so without being subject to discrimination and as far as possible without conflict between their employment and family responsibilities. 28 Workers' representatives in undertakings have the right to protection against acts prejudicial to them and should be afforded appropriate facilities to carry out their functions. 29 All workers have the right to be informed and consulted in collective redundancy procedures. 30 Everyone has the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion. 31 Everyone has the right to housing.

text: Part II

text: The Parties undertake, as provided for in Part III, to consider themselves bound by the obligations laid down in the following articles and paragraphs.

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to work, the Parties undertake: 1 to accept as one of their primary aims and responsibilities the achievement and maintenance of as high and stable a level of employment as possible, with a view to the attainment of full employment; 2 to protect effectively the right of the worker to earn his living in an occupation freely entered upon; 3 to establish or maintain free employment services for all workers; 4 to provide or promote appropriate vocational guidance, training and rehabilitation.

text: Article 1 – The right to work

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to just conditions of work, the Parties undertake: 1 to provide for reasonable daily and weekly working hours, the working week to be progressively reduced to the extent that the increase of productivity and other relevant factors permit; 2 to provide for public holidays with pay; 3 to provide for a minimum of four weeks' annual holiday with pay;

text: to eliminate risks in inherently dangerous or unhealthy occupations, and where it has not yet been possible to eliminate or reduce sufficiently these risks, to provide for either a reduction of working hours or additional paid holidays for workers engaged in such occupations;

text: to ensure a weekly rest period which shall, as far as possible, coincide with the day recognised by tradition or custom in the country or region concerned as a day of rest;

text: to ensure that workers are informed in written form, as soon as possible, and in any event not later than two months after the date of commencing their employment, of the essential aspects of the contract or employment relationship;

text: to ensure that workers performing night work benefit from measures which take account of the special nature of the work.

text: Article 2 – The right to just conditions of work

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to safe and healthy working conditions, the Parties undertake, in consultation with employers' and workers' organisations:

text: to formulate, implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment. The primary aim of this policy shall be to improve occupational safety and health and to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with or occurring in the course of work, particularly by minimising the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment;

text: to issue safety and health regulations;

text: to provide for the enforcement of such regulations by measures of supervision;

text: to promote the progressive development of occupational health services for all workers with essentially preventive and advisory functions.

text: Article 3 – The right to safe and healthy working conditions

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to a fair remuneration, the Parties undertake:

text: to recognise the right of workers to a remuneration such as will give them and their families a decent standard of living;

text: to recognise the right of workers to an increased rate of remuneration for overtime work, subject to exceptions in particular cases;

text: to recognise the right of men and women workers to equal pay for work of equal value;

text: to recognise the right of all workers to a reasonable period of notice for termination of employment;

text: to permit deductions from wages only under conditions and to the extent prescribed by national laws or regulations or fixed by collective agreements or arbitration awards.

text: The exercise of these rights shall be achieved by freely concluded collective agreements, by statutory wage-fixing machinery, or by other means appropriate to national conditions.

text: Article 4 – The right to a fair remuneration

text: With a view to ensuring or promoting the freedom of workers and employers to form local, national or international organisations for the protection of their economic and social interests and to join those organisations, the Parties undertake that national law shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair, this freedom. The extent to which the guarantees provided for in this article shall apply to the police shall be determined by national laws or regulations. The principle governing the application to the members of the armed forces of these guarantees and the extent to which they shall apply to persons in this category shall equally be determined by national laws or regulations.

text: Article 5 – The right to organise

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to bargain collectively, the Parties undertake:

text: to promote joint consultation between workers and employers;

text: to promote, where necessary and appropriate, machinery for voluntary negotiations between employers or employers' organisations and workers' organisations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements;

text: to promote the establishment and use of appropriate machinery for conciliation and voluntary arbitration for the settlement of labour disputes;

text: and recognise:

text: the right of workers and employers to collective action in cases of conflicts of interest, including the right to strike, subject to obligations that might arise out of collective agreements previously entered into.

text: Article 6 – The right to bargain collectively

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of children and young persons to protection, the Parties undertake:

text: to provide that the minimum age of admission to employment shall be 15 years, subject to exceptions for children employed in prescribed light work without harm to their health, morals or education;

text: to provide that the minimum age of admission to employment shall be 18 years with respect to prescribed occupations regarded as dangerous or unhealthy;

text: to provide that persons who are still subject to compulsory education shall not be employed in such work as would deprive them of the full benefit of their education;

text: to provide that the working hours of persons under 18 years of age shall be limited in accordance with the needs of their development, and particularly with their need for vocational training;

text: to recognise the right of young workers and apprentices to a fair wage or other appropriate allowances;

text: to provide that the time spent by young persons in vocational training during the normal working hours with the consent of the employer shall be treated as forming part of the working day;

text: to provide that employed persons of under 18 years of age shall be entitled to a minimum of four weeks' annual holiday with pay;

text: to provide that persons under 18 years of age shall not be employed in night work with the exception of certain occupations provided for by national laws or regulations;

text: to provide that persons under 18 years of age employed in occupations prescribed by national laws or regulations shall be subject to regular medical control;

text: to ensure special protection against physical and moral dangers to which children and young persons are exposed, and particularly against those resulting directly or indirectly from their work.

text: Article 7 – The right of children and young persons to protection

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of employed women to the protection of maternity, the Parties undertake:

text: to provide either by paid leave, by adequate social security benefits or by benefits from public funds for employed women to take leave before and after childbirth up to a total of at least fourteen weeks;

text: to consider it as unlawful for an employer to give a woman notice of dismissal during the period from the time she notifies her employer that she is pregnant until the end of her maternity leave, or to give her notice of dismissal at such a time that the notice would expire during such a period;

text: to provide that mothers who are nursing their infants shall be entitled to sufficient time off for this purpose;

text: to regulate the employment in night work of pregnant women, women who have recently given birth and women nursing their infants;

text: to prohibit the employment of pregnant women, women who have recently given birth or who are nursing their infants in underground mining and all other work which is unsuitable by reason of its dangerous, unhealthy or arduous nature and to take appropriate measures to protect the employment rights of these women.

text: Article 8 – The right of employed women to protection of maternity

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to vocational guidance, the Parties undertake to provide or promote, as necessary, a service which will assist all persons, including the handicapped, to solve problems related to occupational choice and progress, with due regard to the individual's characteristics and their relation to occupational opportunity: this assistance should be available free of charge, both to young persons, including schoolchildren, and to adults.

text: Article 9 – The right to vocational guidance

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to vocational training, the Parties undertake:

text: to provide or promote, as necessary, the technical and vocational training of all persons, including the handicapped, in consultation with employers' and workers' organisations, and to grant facilities for access to higher technical and university education, based solely on individual aptitude;

text: to provide or promote a system of apprenticeship and other systematic arrangements for training young boys and girls in their various employments; 3 to provide or promote, as necessary: a adequate and readily available training facilities for adult workers; b special facilities for the retraining of adult workers needed as a result of technological development or new trends in employment; 4 to provide or promote, as necessary, special measures for the retraining and reintegration of the long-term unemployed; 5 to encourage the full utilisation of the facilities provided by appropriate measures such as: a reducing or abolishing any fees or charges; b granting financial assistance in appropriate cases; c including in the normal working hours time spent on supplementary training taken by the worker, at the request of his employer, during employment; d ensuring, through adequate supervision, in consultation with the employers' and workers' organisations, the efficiency of apprenticeship and other training arrangements for young workers, and the adequate protection of young workers generally.

text: Article 10 – The right to vocational training

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to protection of health, the Parties undertake, either directly or in cooperation with public or private organisations, to take appropriate measures designed inter alia: 1 to remove as far as possible the causes of ill-health; 2 to provide advisory and educational facilities for the promotion of health and the encouragement of individual responsibility in matters of health; 3 to prevent as far as possible epidemic, endemic and other diseases, as well as accidents.

text: Article 11 – The right to protection of health

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to social security, the Parties undertake: 1 to establish or maintain a system of social security; 2 to maintain the social security system at a satisfactory level at least equal to that necessary for the ratification of the European Code of Social Security; 3 to endeavour to raise progressively the system of social security to a higher level; 4 to take steps, by the conclusion of appropriate bilateral and multilateral agreements or by other means, and subject to the conditions laid down in such agreements, in order to ensure:

text: equal treatment with their own nationals of the nationals of other Parties in respect of social security rights, including the retention of benefits arising out of social security legislation, whatever movements the persons protected may undertake between the territories of the Parties;

text: the granting, maintenance and resumption of social security rights by such means as the accumulation of insurance or employment periods completed under the legislation of each of the Parties.

text: Article 12 – The right to social security

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to social and medical assistance, the Parties undertake:

text: to ensure that any person who is without adequate resources and who is unable to secure such resources either by his own efforts or from other sources, in particular by benefits under a social security scheme, be granted adequate assistance, and, in case of sickness, the care necessitated by his condition;

text: to ensure that persons receiving such assistance shall not, for that reason, suffer from a diminution of their political or social rights;

text: to provide that everyone may receive by appropriate public or private services such advice and personal help as may be required to prevent, to remove, or to alleviate personal or family want;

text: to apply the provisions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this article on an equal footing with their nationals to nationals of other Parties lawfully within their territories, in accordance with their obligations under the European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance, signed at Paris on 11 December 1953.

text: Article 13 – The right to social and medical assistance

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to benefit from social welfare services, the Parties undertake:

text: to promote or provide services which, by using methods of social work, would contribute to the welfare and development of both individuals and groups in the community, and to their adjustment to the social environment;

text: to encourage the participation of individuals and voluntary or other organisations in the establishment and maintenance of such services.

text: Article 14 – The right to benefit from social welfare services

text: With a view to ensuring to persons with disabilities, irrespective of age and the nature and origin of their disabilities, the effective exercise of the right to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community, the Parties undertake, in particular:

text: to take the necessary measures to provide persons with disabilities with guidance, education and vocational training in the framework of general schemes wherever possible or, where this is not possible, through specialised bodies, public or private;

text: to promote their access to employment through all measures tending to encourage employers to hire and keep in employment persons with disabilities in the ordinary working environment and to adjust the working conditions to the needs of the disabled or, where this is not possible by reason of the disability, by arranging for or creating sheltered employment according to the level of disability. In certain cases, such measures may require recourse to specialised placement and support services;

text: to promote their full social integration and participation in the life of the community in particular through measures, including technical aids, aiming to overcome barriers to communication and mobility and enabling access to transport, housing, cultural activities and leisure.

text: Article 15 – The right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community

text: With a view to ensuring the necessary conditions for the full development of the family, which is a fundamental unit of society, the Parties undertake to promote the economic, legal and social protection of family life by such means as social and family benefits, fiscal arrangements, provision of family housing, benefits for the newly married and other appropriate means.

text: Article 16 – The right of the family to social, legal and economic protection

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of children and young persons to grow up in an environment which encourages the full development of their personality and of their physical and mental capacities, the Parties undertake, either directly or in co-operation with public and private organisations, to take all appropriate and necessary measures designed:

text: to protect children and young persons against negligence, violence or exploitation;

text: to provide protection and special aid from the state for children and young persons temporarily or definitively deprived of their family's support;

text: a to ensure that children and young persons, taking account of the rights and duties of their parents, have the care, the assistance, the education and the training they need, in particular by providing for the establishment or maintenance of institutions and services sufficient and adequate for this purpose;

text: to provide to children and young persons a free primary and secondary education as well as to encourage regular attendance at schools.

text: Article 17 – The right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to engage in a gainful occupation in the territory of any other Party, the Parties undertake:

text: to apply existing regulations in a spirit of liberality;

text: to simplify existing formalities and to reduce or abolish chancery dues and other charges payable by foreign workers or their employers;

text: to liberalise, individually or collectively, regulations governing the employment of foreign workers;

text: and recognise:

text: the right of their nationals to leave the country to engage in a gainful occupation in the territories of the other Parties.

text: Article 18 – The right to engage in a gainful occupation in the territory of other Parties

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance in the territory of any other Party, the Parties undertake:

text: to maintain or to satisfy themselves that there are maintained adequate and free services to assist such workers, particularly in obtaining accurate information, and to take all appropriate steps, so far as national laws and regulations permit, against misleading propaganda relating to emigration and immigration;

text: to adopt appropriate measures within their own jurisdiction to facilitate the departure, journey and reception of such workers and their families, and to provide, within their own jurisdiction, appropriate services for health, medical attention and good hygienic conditions during the journey;

text: to promote co-operation, as appropriate, between social services, public and private, in emigration and immigration countries;

text: remuneration and other employment and working conditions;

text: membership of trade unions and enjoyment of the benefits of collective bargaining;

text: accommodation;

text: to secure for such workers lawfully within their territories, insofar as such matters are regulated by law or regulations or are subject to the control of administrative authorities, treatment not less favourable than that of their own nationals in respect of the following matters:

text: to secure for such workers lawfully within their territories treatment not less favourable than that of their own nationals with regard to employment taxes, dues or contributions payable in respect of employed persons;

text: to facilitate as far as possible the reunion of the family of a foreign worker permitted to establish himself in the territory;

text: to secure for such workers lawfully within their territories treatment not less favourable than that of their own nationals in respect of legal proceedings relating to matters referred to in this article;

text: to secure that such workers lawfully residing within their territories are not expelled unless they endanger national security or offend against public interest or morality;

text: to permit, within legal limits, the transfer of such parts of the earnings and savings of such workers as they may desire;

text: to extend the protection and assistance provided for in this article to self-employed migrants insofar as such measures apply;

text: to promote and facilitate the teaching of the national language of the receiving state or, if there are several, one of these languages, to migrant workers and members of their families;

text: to promote and facilitate, as far as practicable, the teaching of the migrant worker's mother tongue to the children of the migrant worker.

text: Article 19 – The right of migrant workers and their families to protection and assistance

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to equal opportunities and equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation without discrimination on the grounds of sex, the Parties undertake to recognise that right and to take appropriate measures to ensure or promote its application in the following fields:

text: access to employment, protection against dismissal and occupational reintegration;

text: vocational guidance, training, retraining and rehabilitation;

text: terms of employment and working conditions, including remuneration;

text: career development, including promotion.

text: Article 20 – The right to equal opportunities and equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation without discrimination on the grounds of sex

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of workers to be informed and consulted within the undertaking, the Parties undertake to adopt or encourage measures enabling workers or their representatives, in accordance with national legislation and practice:

text: to be informed regularly or at the appropriate time and in a comprehensible way about the economic and financial situation of the undertaking employing them, on the understanding that the disclosure of certain information which could be prejudicial to the undertaking may be refused or subject to confidentiality; and

text: to be consulted in good time on proposed decisions which could substantially affect the interests of workers, particularly on those decisions which could have an important impact on the employment situation in the undertaking.

text: Article 21 – The right to information and consultation

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of workers to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment in the undertaking, the Parties undertake to adopt or encourage measures enabling workers or their representatives, in accordance with national legislation and practice, to contribute:

text: to the determination and the improvement of the working conditions, work organisation and working environment;

text: to the protection of health and safety within the undertaking;

text: to the organisation of social and socio-cultural services and facilities within the undertaking;

text: to the supervision of the observance of regulations on these matters.

text: Article 22 – The right to take part in the determination and improvement of the working conditions and working environment

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of elderly persons to social protection, the Parties undertake to adopt or encourage, either directly or in co-operation with public or private organisations, appropriate measures designed in particular:

text: – to enable elderly persons to remain full members of society for as long as possible, by means of:

text: adequate resources enabling them to lead a decent life and play an active part in public, social and cultural life;

text: provision of information about services and facilities available for elderly persons and their opportunities to make use of them;

text: – to enable elderly persons to choose their life-style freely and to lead independent lives in their familiar surroundings for as long as they wish and are able, by means of:

text: provision of housing suited to their needs and their state of health or of adequate support for adapting their housing;

text: the health care and the services necessitated by their state;

text: – to guarantee elderly persons living in institutions appropriate support, while respecting their privacy, and participation in decisions concerning living conditions in the institution.

text: Article 23 – The right of elderly persons to social protection

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of workers to protection in cases of termination of employment, the Parties undertake to recognise:

text: the right of all workers not to have their employment terminated without valid reasons for such termination connected with their capacity or conduct or based on the operational requirements of the undertaking, establishment or service;

text: the right of workers whose employment is terminated without a valid reason to adequate compensation or other appropriate relief.

text: To this end the Parties undertake to ensure that a worker who considers that his employment has been terminated without a valid reason shall have the right to appeal to an impartial body.

text: Article 24 – The right to protection in cases of termination of employment

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of workers to the protection of their claims in the event of the insolvency of their employer, the Parties undertake to provide that workers' claims arising from contracts of employment or employment relationships be guaranteed by a guarantee institution or by any other effective form of protection.

text: Article 25 – The right of workers to the protection of their claims in the event of the insolvency of their employer

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of all workers to protection of their dignity at work, the Parties undertake, in consultation with employers' and workers' organisations:

text: to promote awareness, information and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace or in relation to work and to take all appropriate measures to protect workers from such conduct;

text: to promote awareness, information and prevention of recurrent reprehensible or distinctly negative and offensive actions directed against individual workers in the workplace or in relation to work and to take all appropriate measures to protect workers from such conduct.

text: Article 26 – The right to dignity at work

text: With a view to ensuring the exercise of the right to equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers with family responsibilities and between such workers and other workers, the Parties undertake:

text: to enable workers with family responsibilities to enter and remain in employment, as well as to reenter employment after an absence due to those responsibilities, including measures in the field of vocational guidance and training;

text: to take account of their needs in terms of conditions of employment and social security;

text: to develop or promote services, public or private, in particular child daycare services and other childcare arrangements;

text: to take appropriate measures:

text: to provide a possibility for either parent to obtain, during a period after maternity leave, parental leave to take care of a child, the duration and conditions of which should be determined by national legislation, collective agreements or practice;

text: to ensure that family responsibilities shall not, as such, constitute a valid reason for termination of employment.

text: Article 27 – The right of workers with family responsibilities to equal opportunities and equal treatment

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of workers' representatives to carry out their functions, the Parties undertake to ensure that in the undertaking:

text: they enjoy effective protection against acts prejudicial to them, including dismissal, based on their status or activities as workers' representatives within the undertaking;

text: they are afforded such facilities as may be appropriate in order to enable them to carry out their functions promptly and efficiently, account being taken of the industrial relations system of the country and the needs, size and capabilities of the undertaking concerned.

text: Article 28 – The right of workers' representatives to protection in the undertaking and facilities to be accorded to them

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right of workers to be informed and consulted in situations of collective redundancies, the Parties undertake to ensure that employers shall inform and consult workers' representatives, in good time prior to such collective redundancies, on ways and means of avoiding collective redundancies or limiting their occurrence and mitigating their consequences, for example by recourse to accompanying social measures aimed, in particular, at aid for the redeployment or retraining of the workers concerned.

text: Article 29 – The right to information and consultation in collective redundancy procedures

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, the Parties undertake: a to take measures within the framework of an overall and co-ordinated approach to promote the effective access of persons who live or risk living in a situation of social exclusion or poverty, as well as their families, to, in particular, employment, housing, training, education, culture and social and medical assistance; b to review these measures with a view to their adaptation if necessary.

text: Article 30 – The right to protection against poverty and social exclusion

text: With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to housing, the Parties undertake to take measures designed: 1 to promote access to housing of an adequate standard; 2 to prevent and reduce homelessness with a view to its gradual elimination; 3 to make the price of housing accessible to those without adequate resources.

text: Article 31 – The right to housing

text: Part III

text: Article A – Undertakings

text: 1 Subject to the provisions of Article B below, each of the Parties undertakes: a to consider Part I of this Charter as a declaration of the aims which it will pursue by all appropriate means, as stated in the introductory paragraph of that part; b to consider itself bound by at least six of the following nine articles of Part II of this Charter:

text: Articles 1

text: , 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 16, 19 and 20; c to consider itself bound by an additional number of articles or numbered paragraphs of Part II of the Charter which it may select, provided that the total number of articles or numbered paragraphs by which it is bound is not less than sixteen articles or sixty-three numbered paragraphs. 2 The articles or paragraphs selected in accordance with sub-paragraphs b and c of paragraph 1 of this article shall be notified to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe at the time when the instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval is deposited. 3 Any Party may, at a later date, declare by notification addressed to the Secretary General that it considers itself bound by any articles or any numbered paragraphs of Part II of the Charter which it has not already accepted under the terms of paragraph 1 of this article. Such undertakings subsequently given shall be deemed to be an integral part of the ratification, acceptance or approval and shall have the same effect as from the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date of the notification. 4 Each Party shall maintain a system of labour inspection appropriate to national conditions.

text: Article B – Links with the European Social Charter and the 1988 Additional Protocol

text: 1 No Contracting Party to the European Social Charter or Party to the Additional Protocol of 5 May 1988 may ratify, accept or approve this Charter without considering itself bound by at least the provisions corresponding to the provisions of the European Social Charter and, where appropriate, of the Additional Protocol, to which it was bound.

text: 2 Acceptance of the obligations of any provision of this Charter shall, from the date of entry into force of those obligations for the Party concerned, result in the corresponding provision of the European Social Charter and, where appropriate, of its Additional Protocol of 1988 ceasing to apply to the Party concerned in the event of that Party being bound by the first of those instruments or by both instruments.

text: Part IV

text: The implementation of the legal obligations contained in this Charter shall be submitted to the same supervision as the European Social Charter.

text: Article C – Supervision of the implementation of the undertakings contained in this Charter

text: The provisions of the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter providing for a system of collective complaints shall apply to the undertakings given in this Charter for the States which have ratified the said Protocol.

text: Any State which is not bound by the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter providing for a system of collective complaints may when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval of this Charter or at any time thereafter, declare by notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, that it accepts the supervision of its obligations under this Charter following the procedure provided for in the said Protocol.

text: Article D – Collective complaints

text: Part V

text: Article E – Non-discrimination

text: The enjoyment of the rights set forth in this Charter shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national extraction or social origin, health, association with a national minority, birth or other status.

text: Article F – Derogations in time of war or public emergency

text: 1 In time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation any Party may take measures derogating from its obligations under this Charter to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law.

text: 2 Any Party which has availed itself of this right of derogation shall, within a reasonable lapse of time, keep the Secretary General of the Council of Europe fully informed of the measures taken and of the reasons therefor. It shall likewise inform the Secretary General when such measures have ceased to operate and the provisions of the Charter which it has accepted are again being fully executed.

text: Article G – Restrictions

text: 1 The rights and principles set forth in Part I when effectively realised, and their effective exercise as provided for in Part II, shall not be subject to any restrictions or limitations not specified in those parts, except such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others or for the protection of public interest, national security, public health, or morals.

text: 2 The restrictions permitted under this Charter to the rights and obligations set forth herein shall not be applied for any purpose other than that for which they have been prescribed.

text: Article H – Relations between the Charter and domestic law or international agreements

text: The provisions of this Charter shall not prejudice the provisions of domestic law or of any bilateral or multilateral treaties, conventions or agreements which are already in force, or may come into force, under which more favourable treatment would be accorded to the persons protected.

text: laws or regulations;

text: agreements between employers or employers' organisations and workers' organisations;

text: a combination of those two methods;

text: other appropriate means.

text: Without prejudice to the methods of implementation foreseen in these articles the relevant provisions of

text: Articles 1

text: to 31 of Part II of this Charter shall be implemented by:

text: Compliance with the undertakings deriving from the provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 of

text: Article 2

text: , paragraphs 4, 6 and 7 of

text: Article 7

text: , paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5 of

text: Article 10

text: and

text: Articles 21

text: and 22 of Part II of this Charter shall be regarded as effective if the provisions are applied, in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article, to the great majority of the workers concerned.

text: Article J – Amendments

text: Any amendment to Parts I and II of this Charter with the purpose of extending the rights guaranteed in this Charter as well as any amendment to Parts III to VI, proposed by a Party or by the Governmental Committee, shall be communicated to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and forwarded by the Secretary General to the Parties to this Charter.

text: Any amendment proposed in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph shall be examined by the Governmental Committee which shall submit the text adopted to the Committee of Ministers for approval after consultation with the Parliamentary Assembly. After its approval by the Committee of Ministers this text shall be forwarded to the Parties for acceptance.

text: Any amendment to Part I and to Part II of this Charter shall enter into force, in respect of those Parties which have accepted it, on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date on which three Parties have informed the Secretary General that they have accepted it.

text: In respect of any Party which subsequently accepts it, the amendment shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date on which that Party has informed the Secretary General of its acceptance.

text: Any amendment to Parts III to VI of this Charter shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date on which all Parties have informed the Secretary General that they have accepted it.

text: Article I – Implementation of the undertakings given

text: Part VI

text: Article K – Signature, ratification and entry into force

text: 1 This Charter shall be open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe. It shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

text: 2 This Charter shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date on which three member States of the Council of Europe have expressed their consent to be bound by this Charter in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

text: 3 In respect of any member State which subsequently expresses its consent to be bound by this Charter, it shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.

text: This Charter shall apply to the metropolitan territory of each Party. Each signatory may, at the time of signature or of the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, specify, by declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the territory which shall be considered to be its metropolitan territory for this purpose.

text: Any signatory may, at the time of signature or of the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, or at any time thereafter, declare by notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, that the Charter shall extend in whole or in part to a non-metropolitan territory or territories specified in the said declaration for whose international relations it is responsible or for which it assumes international responsibility. It shall specify in the declaration the articles or paragraphs of Part II of the Charter which it accepts as binding in respect of the territories named in the declaration.

text: The Charter shall extend its application to the territory or territories named in the aforesaid declaration as from the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date of receipt of the notification of such declaration by the Secretary General.

text: Any Party may declare at a later date by notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe that, in respect of one or more of the territories to which the Charter has been applied in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, it accepts as binding any articles or any numbered paragraphs which it has not already accepted in respect of that territory or territories. Such undertakings subsequently given shall be deemed to be an integral part of the original declaration in respect of the territory concerned, and shall have the same effect as from the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date of receipt of such notification by the Secretary General.

text: Article L – Territorial application

text: Any Party may denounce this Charter only at the end of a period of five years from the date on which the Charter entered into force for it, or at the end of any subsequent period of two years, and in either case after giving six months' notice to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe who shall inform the other Parties accordingly.

text: Any Party may, in accordance with the provisions set out in the preceding paragraph, denounce any article or paragraph of Part II of the Charter accepted by it provided that the number of articles or paragraphs by which this Party is bound shall never be less than sixteen in the former case and sixty-three in the latter and that this number of articles or paragraphs shall continue to include the articles selected by the Party among those to which special reference is made in Article A, paragraph 1, sub-paragraph b.

text: any signature;

text: the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval;

text: any date of entry into force of this Charter in accordance with Article K;

text: any declaration made in application of Articles A, paragraphs 2 and 3, D, paragraphs 1 and 2, F, paragraph 2, L, paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4;

text: any amendment in accordance with Article J;

text: any denunciation in accordance with

text: Article M

text: any other act, notification or communication relating to this Charter.

text: Any Party may denounce the present Charter or any of the articles or paragraphs of Part II of the Charter under the conditions specified in paragraph 1 of this article in respect of any territory to which the said Charter is applicable, by virtue of a declaration made in accordance with paragraph 2 of

text: Article L

text: Article N – Appendix

text: The appendix to this Charter shall form an integral part of it.

text: Article O – Notifications

text: The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the Council and the Director General of the International Labour Office of:

text: In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this revised Charter.

text: Done at Strasbourg, this 3rd day of May 1996, in English and French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each member State of the Council of Europe and to the Director General of the International Labour Office.

text: Article M – Denunciation

title: European Social Charter (revised)


doctype: treaty

identifier: ETS No. 164

openingPlace: Oviedo

publisher: Council of Europe Treaty Office

reference: ETS No. 164

title: Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine

text: European Treaty Series - No. 164

type: stycke

text: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on

text: Human Rights and Biomedicine

text: Oviedo, 4.IV.1997

text: Preamble

text: The member States of the Council of Europe, the other States and the European Community, signatories hereto,

text: Bearing in mind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948;

text: Bearing in mind the

text: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

text: of 4 November 1950;

text: Bearing in mind the European Social Charter of 18 October 1961;

text: Bearing in mind the

text: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

text: and the

text: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

text: of 16 December 1966;

text: Bearing in mind the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data of 28 January 1981;

text: Bearing also in mind the

text: Convention on the Rights of the Child

text: of 20 November 1989;

text: Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is the achievement of a greater unity between its members and that one of the methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

text: Conscious of the accelerating developments in biology and medicine;

text: Convinced of the need to respect the human being both as an individual and as a member of the human species and recognising the importance of ensuring the dignity of the human being;

text: Conscious that the misuse of biology and medicine may lead to acts endangering human dignity;

text: _____ (*) The Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community entered into force on 1 December 2009. As a consequence, as from that date, any reference to the European Economic Community shall be read as the European Union.

text: ETS 164 – Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, 4.IV.1997 __________________________________________________________________________________

text: Affirming that progress in biology and medicine should be used for the benefit of present and future generations; Stressing the need for international co-operation so that all humanity may enjoy the benefits of biology and medicine; Recognising the importance of promoting a public debate on the questions posed by the application of biology and medicine and the responses to be given thereto; Wishing to remind all members of society of their rights and responsibilities; Taking account of the work of the Parliamentary Assembly in this field, including Recommendation 1160 (1991) on the preparation of a convention on bioethics; Resolving to take such measures as are necessary to safeguard human dignity and the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual with regard to the application of biology and medicine, Have agreed as follows:

text: Chapter I – General provisions

type: rubrik

text: Parties to this Convention shall protect the dignity and identity of all human beings and guarantee everyone, without discrimination, respect for their integrity and other rights and fundamental freedoms with regard to the application of biology and medicine. Each Party shall take in its internal law the necessary measures to give effect to the provisions of this Convention.

text: Article 1 – Purpose and object

type: artikel

text: The interests and welfare of the human being shall prevail over the sole interest of society or science.

text: Article 2 – Primacy of the human being

text: Parties, taking into account health needs and available resources, shall take appropriate measures with a view to providing, within their jurisdiction, equitable access to health care of appropriate quality.

text: Article 3 – Equitable access to health care

text: Any intervention in the health field, including research, must be carried out in accordance with relevant professional obligations and standards.

text: Article 4 – Professional standards

text: Chapter II – Consent

text: An intervention in the health field may only be carried out after the person concerned has given free and informed consent to it. This person shall beforehand be given appropriate information as to the purpose and nature of the intervention as well as on its consequences and risks.

text: The person concerned may freely withdraw consent at any time.

text: Article 5 – General rule

text: Subject to

text: Articles 17

text: and 20 below, an intervention may only be carried out on a person who does not have the capacity to consent, for his or her direct benefit. 2 Where, according to law, a minor does not have the capacity to consent to an intervention, the intervention may only be carried out with the authorisation of his or her representative or an authority or a person or body provided for by law. The opinion of the minor shall be taken into consideration as an increasingly determining factor in proportion to his or her age and degree of maturity. 3 Where, according to law, an adult does not have the capacity to consent to an intervention because of a mental disability, a disease or for similar reasons, the intervention may only be carried out with the authorisation of his or her representative or an authority or a person or body provided for by law. The individual concerned shall as far as possible take part in the authorisation procedure. 4 The representative, the authority, the person or the body mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3 above shall be given, under the same conditions, the information referred to in

text: Article 5

text: . 5 The authorisation referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 above may be withdrawn at any time in the best interests of the person concerned.

text: Article 6 – Protection of persons not able to consent

text: Subject to protective conditions prescribed by law, including supervisory, control and appeal procedures, a person who has a mental disorder of a serious nature may be subjected, without his or her consent, to an intervention aimed at treating his or her mental disorder only where, without such treatment, serious harm is likely to result to his or her health.

text: Article 7 – Protection of persons who have a mental disorder

text: When because of an emergency situation the appropriate consent cannot be obtained, any medically necessary intervention may be carried out immediately for the benefit of the health of the individual concerned.

text: Article 8 – Emergency situation

text: The previously expressed wishes relating to a medical intervention by a patient who is not, at the time of the intervention, in a state to express his or her wishes shall be taken into account.

text: Article 9 – Previously expressed wishes

text: Chapter III – Private life and right to information

text: Everyone has the right to respect for private life in relation to information about his or her health. 2 Everyone is entitled to know any information collected about his or her health. However, the wishes of individuals not to be so informed shall be observed.

text: In exceptional cases, restrictions may be placed by law on the exercise of the rights contained in paragraph 2 in the interests of the patient.

text: Article 10 – Private life and right to information

text: Chapter IV – Human genome

text: Any form of discrimination against a person on grounds of his or her genetic heritage is prohibited.

text: Article 11 – Non-discrimination

text: Tests which are predictive of genetic diseases or which serve either to identify the subject as a carrier of a gene responsible for a disease or to detect a genetic predisposition or susceptibility to a disease may be performed only for health purposes or for scientific research linked to health purposes, and subject to appropriate genetic counselling.

text: Article 12 – Predictive genetic tests

text: An intervention seeking to modify the human genome may only be undertaken for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes and only if its aim is not to introduce any modification in the genome of any descendants.

text: Article 13 – Interventions on the human genome

text: The use of techniques of medically assisted procreation shall not be allowed for the purpose of choosing a future child's sex, except where serious hereditary sex-related disease is to be avoided.

text: Article 14 – Non-selection of sex

text: Chapter V – Scientific research

text: Scientific research in the field of biology and medicine shall be carried out freely, subject to the provisions of this Convention and the other legal provisions ensuring the protection of the human being.

text: Article 15 – General rule

text: Research on a person may only be undertaken if all the following conditions are met: i there is no alternative of comparable effectiveness to research on humans; ii the risks which may be incurred by that person are not disproportionate to the potential benefits of the research; iii the research project has been approved by the competent body after independent examination of its scientific merit, including assessment of the importance of the aim of the research, and multidisciplinary review of its ethical acceptability; iv the persons undergoing research have been informed of their rights and the safeguards prescribed by law for their protection; v the necessary consent as provided for under

text: Article 5

text: has been given expressly, specifically and is documented. Such consent may be freely withdrawn at any time.

text: Article 16 – Protection of persons undergoing research

text: Research on a person without the capacity to consent as stipulated in

text: Article 5

text: may be undertaken only if all the following conditions are met: i the conditions laid down in

text: Article 16

text: , sub-paragraphs i to iv, are fulfilled; ii the results of the research have the potential to produce real and direct benefit to his or her health; iii research of comparable effectiveness cannot be carried out on individuals capable of giving consent; iv the necessary authorisation provided for under

text: Article 6

text: has been given specifically and in writing; and v the person concerned does not object. 2 Exceptionally and under the protective conditions prescribed by law, where the research has not the potential to produce results of direct benefit to the health of the person concerned, such research may be authorised subject to the conditions laid down in paragraph 1, subparagraphs i, iii, iv and v above, and to the following additional conditions: i the research has the aim of contributing, through significant improvement in the scientific understanding of the individual's condition, disease or disorder, to the ultimate attainment of results capable of conferring benefit to the person concerned or to other persons in the same age category or afflicted with the same disease or disorder or having the same condition; ii the research entails only minimal risk and minimal burden for the individual concerned.

text: Article 17 – Protection of persons not able to consent to research

text: Where the law allows research on embryos in vitro, it shall ensure adequate protection of the embryo. 2 The creation of human embryos for research purposes is prohibited.

text: Article 18 – Research on embryos in vitro

text: Chapter VI – Organ and tissue removal from living donors for transplantation purposes

text: Removal of organs or tissue from a living person for transplantation purposes may be carried out solely for the therapeutic benefit of the recipient and where there is no suitable organ or tissue available from a deceased person and no other alternative therapeutic method of comparable effectiveness. 2 The necessary consent as provided for under

text: Article 5

text: must have been given expressly and specifically either in written form or before an official body.

text: Article 19 – General rule

text: No organ or tissue removal may be carried out on a person who does not have the capacity to consent under

text: Article 5

text: Exceptionally and under the protective conditions prescribed by law, the removal of regenerative tissue from a person who does not have the capacity to consent may be authorised provided the following conditions are met: i there is no compatible donor available who has the capacity to consent; ii the recipient is a brother or sister of the donor; iii the donation must have the potential to be life-saving for the recipient; iv the authorisation provided for under paragraphs 2 and 3 of

text: Article 6

text: has been given specifically and in writing, in accordance with the law and with the approval of the competent body; v the potential donor concerned does not object.

text: Article 20 – Protection of persons not able to consent to organ removal

text: Chapter VII – Prohibition of financial gain and disposal of a part of the human body

text: The human body and its parts shall not, as such, give rise to financial gain.

text: Article 21 – Prohibition of financial gain

text: When in the course of an intervention any part of a human body is removed, it may be stored and used for a purpose other than that for which it was removed, only if this is done in conformity with appropriate information and consent procedures.

text: Article 22 – Disposal of a removed part of the human body

text: Chapter VIII – Infringements of the provisions of the Convention

text: The Parties shall provide appropriate judicial protection to prevent or to put a stop to an unlawful infringement of the rights and principles set forth in this Convention at short notice.

text: Article 23 – Infringement of the rights or principles

text: The person who has suffered undue damage resulting from an intervention is entitled to fair compensation according to the conditions and procedures prescribed by law.

text: Article 24 – Compensation for undue damage

text: Parties shall provide for appropriate sanctions to be applied in the event of infringement of the provisions contained in this Convention.

text: Article 25 – Sanctions

text: Chapter IX – Relation between this Convention and other provisions

text: No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of the rights and protective provisions contained in this Convention other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interest of public safety, for the prevention of crime, for the protection of public health or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

text: The restrictions contemplated in the preceding paragraph may not be placed on

text: Articles 11

text: , 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21.

text: Article 26 – Restrictions on the exercise of the rights

text: None of the provisions of this Convention shall be interpreted as limiting or otherwise affecting the possibility for a Party to grant a wider measure of protection with regard to the application of biology and medicine than is stipulated in this Convention.

text: Article 27 – Wider protection

text: Chapter X – Public debate

text: Parties to this Convention shall see to it that the fundamental questions raised by the developments of biology and medicine are the subject of appropriate public discussion in the light, in particular, of relevant medical, social, economic, ethical and legal implications, and that their possible application is made the subject of appropriate consultation.

text: Article 28 – Public debate

text: Chapter XI – Interpretation and follow-up of the Convention

text: The European Court of Human Rights may give, without direct reference to any specific proceedings pending in a court, advisory opinions on legal questions concerning the interpretation of the present Convention at the request of: – the Government of a Party, after having informed the other Parties; – the Committee set up by

text: Article 32

text: , with membership restricted to the Representatives of the Parties to this Convention, by a decision adopted by a two-thirds majority of votes cast.

text: Article 29 – Interpretation of the Convention

text: On receipt of a request from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe any Party shall furnish an explanation of the manner in which its internal law ensures the effective implementation of any of the provisions of the Convention.

text: Article 30 – Reports on the application of the Convention

text: Chapter XII – Protocols

text: Protocols may be concluded in pursuance of

text: Article 32

text: , with a view to developing, in specific fields, the principles contained in this Convention. The Protocols shall be open for signature by Signatories of the Convention. They shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. A Signatory may not ratify, accept or approve Protocols without previously or simultaneously ratifying accepting or approving the Convention.

text: Article 31 – Protocols

text: Chapter XIII – Amendments to the Convention

text: The tasks assigned to "the Committee" in the present article and in

text: Article 29

text: shall be carried out by the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI), or by any other committee designated to do so by the Committee of Ministers.

text: Without prejudice to the specific provisions of

text: Article 29

text: , each member State of the Council of Europe, as well as each Party to the present Convention which is not a member of the Council of Europe, may be represented and have one vote in the Committee when the Committee carries out the tasks assigned to it by the present Convention.

text: Any State referred to in

text: Article 33

text: or invited to accede to the Convention in accordance with the provisions of

text: Article 34

text: which is not Party to this Convention may be represented on the Committee by an observer. If the European Community is not a Party it may be represented on the Committee by an observer.

text: In order to monitor scientific developments, the present Convention shall be examined within the Committee no later than five years from its entry into force and thereafter at such intervals as the Committee may determine.

text: Any proposal for an amendment to this Convention, and any proposal for a Protocol or for an amendment to a Protocol, presented by a Party, the Committee or the Committee of Ministers shall be communicated to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and forwarded by him to the member States of the Council of Europe, to the European Community, to any Signatory, to any Party, to any State invited to sign this Convention in accordance with the provisions of

text: Article 33

text: and to any State invited to accede to it in accordance with the provisions of

text: Article 34

text: The Committee shall examine the proposal not earlier than two months after it has been forwarded by the Secretary General in accordance with paragraph 5. The Committee shall submit the text adopted by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast to the Committee of Ministers for approval. After its approval, this text shall be forwarded to the Parties for ratification, acceptance or approval.

text: Any amendment shall enter into force, in respect of those Parties which have accepted it, on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date on which five Parties, including at least four member States of the Council of Europe, have informed the Secretary General that they have accepted it.

text: In respect of any Party which subsequently accepts it, the amendment shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date on which that Party has informed the Secretary General of its acceptance.

text: Article 32 – Amendments to the Convention

text: Chapter XIV – Final clauses

text: This Convention shall be open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe, the non-member States which have participated in its elaboration and by the European Community.

text: This Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

text: This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date on which five States, including at least four member States of the Council of Europe, have expressed their consent to be bound by the Convention in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of the present article.

text: In respect of any Signatory which subsequently expresses its consent to be bound by it, the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.

text: Article 33 – Signature, ratification and entry into force

text: After the entry into force of this Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may, after consultation of the Parties, invite any non-member State of the Council of Europe to accede to this Convention by a decision taken by the majority provided for in

text: Article 20

text: , paragraph d, of the Statute of the Council of Europe, and by the unanimous vote of the representatives of the Contracting States entitled to sit on the Committee of Ministers.

text: In respect of any acceding State, the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of deposit of the instrument of accession with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

text: Article 34 – Non-member States

text: Any Signatory may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, specify the territory or territories to which this Convention shall apply. Any other State may formulate the same declaration when depositing its instrument of accession.

text: Any Party may, at any later date, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, extend the application of this Convention to any other territory specified in the declaration and for whose international relations it is responsible or on whose behalf it is authorised to give undertakings. In respect of such territory the Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of such declaration by the Secretary General.

text: Any declaration made under the two preceding paragraphs may, in respect of any territory specified in such declaration, be withdrawn by a notification addressed to the Secretary General. The withdrawal shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of such notification by the Secretary General.

text: Article 35 – Territories

text: Any State and the European Community may, when signing this Convention or when depositing the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, make a reservation in respect of any particular provision of the Convention to the extent that any law then in force in its territory is not in conformity with the provision. Reservations of a general character shall not be permitted under this article.

text: Any reservation made under this article shall contain a brief statement of the relevant law.

text: Any Party which extends the application of this Convention to a territory mentioned in the declaration referred to in

text: Article 35

text: , paragraph 2, may, in respect of the territory concerned, make a reservation in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraphs.

text: Any Party which has made the reservation mentioned in this article may withdraw it by means of a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The withdrawal shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date of its receipt by the Secretary General.

text: Article 36 – Reservations

text: Any Party may at any time denounce this Convention by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

text: Such denunciation shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.

text: Article 37 – Denunciation

text: The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the Council, the European Community, any Signatory, any Party and any other State which has been invited to accede to this Convention of:

text: any signature;

text: the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;

text: any date of entry into force of this Convention in accordance with

text: Articles 33

text: or 34;

text: any amendment or Protocol adopted in accordance with

text: Article 32

text: , and the date on which such an amendment or Protocol enters into force;

text: any declaration made under the provisions of

text: Article 35

text: any reservation and withdrawal of reservation made in pursuance of the provisions of

text: Article 36

text: any other act, notification or communication relating to this Convention.

text: In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Convention.

text: Done at Oviedo (Asturias), this 4th day of April 1997, in English and French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each member State of the Council of Europe, to the European Community, to the non-member States which have participated in the elaboration of this Convention, and to any State invited to accede to this Convention.

text: Article 38 – Notifications