International conventions
The international community has adopted various multilateral conventions (multiparty treaties) in the field of nuclear safety in order to strengthen cooperation and set minimum standards. These conventions regulate areas such as nuclear safety, safety standards in spent fuel and radioactive waste management, safe international transport of nuclear material, early notification and mutual assistance in the event of nuclear accidents, and transboundary nuclear liability.
The role of the international organisations
International organisations act as depositaries for these conventions. The depositary’s task is generally to ensure that all the legal formalities relating to a convention, such as the acceptance and safekeeping of the instruments of ratification and/or accession declarations, are properly and impartially executed.
How international conventions enter into force
International conventions generally enter into force once the requisite number of parties specified in the convention have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession declarations. In international law, ratification is defined as the act whereby a state, through the exchange and deposit of instruments, indicates its consent to be bound by a treaty (Articles 11 and 14 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, signed on 23 May 1969: Federal Law Gazette [Bundesgesetzblatt] 1985 II, 926). Ratification, as distinct from the signing of a treaty, is performed by the institution responsible for the state’s external representation; in Germany’s case, this is the Federal President.
Relevant conventions transposed into German law
- Convention on Nuclear Safety: an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treaty; opened for signature on 20 September 1994; in force for Germany since 20 April 1997 to Convention
- Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management: van International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treaty; adopted on 5 September 1997; in force for Germany since 18 June 2001 to Joint Convention
- Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material: an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treaty; adopted on 26 October 1979; in force for Germany since 6 October 1991 to CPPNM-Convention
- Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident: an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treaty; adopted on 26 September 1986; in force for Germany since 15 October 1989 to Convention on a Nuclear Accident
- Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency: an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) treaty; adopted on 26 September 1986; in force for Germany since 15 October 1989 to Convention on Assistance
Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy 1960/1982 (in force since 1 April 1968/7 October 1988); Joint Protocol 1988 (in force for Germany since 27 April 1992); Brussels Supplementary Convention 1963/1982 (in force for Germany since 4 December 1974/1 August 1991), sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Agency, an intergovernmental agency within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to Paris Convention