《公海公约》的内容

公海公约于1958年2月24日至4月27日在日内瓦召开的第一次联合国海洋法会议上通过，1962年9月30日1958年2月24日参加本公约的国家共有五十多个。

中文

公海公约

(1958年4月29日订于日内瓦)

[本公约于1962年9月30日生效]

本公约当事各国，

深愿编纂关于公海之国际法规则，

鉴于自1958年2月24日至4月27日在日内瓦举行之联合国海洋法会议通过下列条款，概括宣示国际法上之确定原则，

爱议定条款如下：'

第1条

称“公海”者谓不属领海或一国内水域之海洋所有各部分。

第2条

公海对各国一律开放，任何国家不得有效主张公海任何部分属其主权范围。公海自由依本条款及国际法其他规则所规定之条件行使之。公海自由，对沿海国及非沿海国而言，均包括下列等项：

(1)航行自由；

(2)捕鱼自由；

(3)敷设海底电缆与管线之自由，

(4)公海上空飞行之自由。

各国行使以上各项自由及国际法一般原则所承认之其他自由应适当顾及其他国家行使公海自由之利益。

第3条

1.无海岸国家应可自由通达海洋，俾与沿海国家以平等地位享有海洋自由。为此目的，凡位于海洋与无海岸国间之国家应与无海岸国相互协议，依照现行国际公约：

(a)准许无海岸国根据交互原则自由过境；

(b)对于悬挂该国国旗之船舶，在出入及使用海港事宜上准其与本国船舶或任何他国船舶享受平等待遇。

2.凡位于海洋与无海岸国间之国家，对于一切有关过境自由及海港内平等待遇之事项如其本国及无海岸国均尚非现行国际公约之当事国，应与后者相互协议，参酌沿海国或被通过国之权利及无海岸国之特殊情况解决之。

第4条

各国无论是否沿海国均有权在公海上行驶悬挂本国国旗之船舶。

第5条

1.各国应规定给予船舶国籍、船舶在其境内登记及享有悬挂其国旗权利之条件。船舶有权悬挂一国国旗者具有该国国籍。国家与船舶之间须有真正联系；国家尤须对悬挂其国旗之船舶在行政、技术及社会事宜上切实行使管辖及管制。

2.各国对于准享悬挂其国旗权利之船舶，应发给有关证书。

第6条

1.船舶应仅悬挂一国国旗航行，除有国际条约或本条款明文规定之例外情形外，在公海上专属该国管辖。船舶除其所有权确实移转或变更登记者外，不得于航程中或在停泊港内更换其国旗。

2.船舶如悬挂两个以上国家之国旗航行，权宜换用，不得对他国主张其中任何一国之国籍，且得视同无国籍船舶。

第7条

前列各条之规定不影响供政府间组织公务用途并悬挂该组织旗帜之船舶问题。

第8条

1.军舰在公海上完全免受船旗国以外任何国家之管辖。

2.本条款所称“军舰”谓属于一国海军，备具该国军舰外部识别标志之船舶，由政府正式任命之军官指挥，指挥官姓名见于海军名册，其船员服从正规海军纪律者。

第9条

一国所有或经营之船舶专供政府非商务用途者，在公海上完全免受，船旗国以外任何国家之管辖。

第10条

1.各国为确保海上安全，应为悬挂本国国籍之船舶采取有关下列等款之必要办法：

(a)信号之使用、通讯之维持及碰撞之防止；

(b)船舶人员之配置及船员之劳动条件，其办法应参照可适用之国际劳工文书；

(c)船舶之构造、装备及适航能力。

2.各国采取此办法，须遵照公认之国际标准并采取必要步骤，确保此项办法之遵守。

第11条

1.船舶在公海上发生碰撞或其他航行事故致船长或船上任何其他服务人员须负刑事责任或受惩戒时，对此等人员之刑事诉讼或惩戒程序非向船旗国或此等人员隶籍国之司法或行政机关不得提起之。

2.如系惩戒事项，惟有发给船长证书或资格证书或执照之国家有权于经过适当法律程序后宣告撤销此项证书，持证人纵非发给证书国之国民亦同。

3.除船旗国之机关外，任何机关不得命令逮捕或扣留船舶，纵使借此进行调查亦所不许。

第12条

各国应责成悬挂本国国旗船舶之船长在不甚危害船舶、船员或乘客之范围内：

(a)对于在海上发现有淹没危险之人，予以救助；

(b)于据告有人遇难亚需救助理当施救时尽速前往援救；

(c)于碰撞后，对于他方船舶、船员及乘客予以救助，并于可能时将其船舶名称、船籍港及开往之最近港口告知他方船舶。

2.各沿海国应为海面及其上空之安全提倡举办并维持适当与有效之搜寻及救助事务，如环境需要，并与邻国互订区域办法，为此目的从事合作。

第13条

各国应采取有效措施以防止并惩治准悬其国旗之船舶贩运奴隶，并防止非法使用其国旗从事此种贩运。凡逃避至任何船舶之奴隶，不论船舶悬何国旗，应当然获得自由。

第14条

各国应尽量合作取缔公海上或不属任何国家管辖之其他处所之海盗行为。

第15条

海盗指下列任何行为：

(1)私有船舶或私有航空器之航员或乘客为私人目的，对下列之人或物实施任何不法之强暴行为、扣留行为或任何掠夺行为：

(a)公海上另一船舶或航空器，或其上之人或财物；

(b)不属任何国家管辖之处所内之船舶、航空器、人或财物；

(2)明知使船舶或航空器成为海盗船舶或航空器之事实而自愿参加其活动；

(3)教唆或故意便利本条第一款或第二款所称之行为。

第16条

军舰、政府船舶或政府航空器之航员叛变并控制该船舶或航空器而犯第15条所称之海盗行为者，此等行为视同私有船舶所实施之行为。

第17条

船舶或航空器，其居于主要控制地位之人意图用以实施第15条所称行为之一者，视为海盗船舶或航空器。凡经用以实施此项行为之船舶或航空器，仍在犯此行为之人控制之下者，亦同。

第18条

船舶或航空器虽已成为海盗船舶或航空器，仍得保有其国籍。国籍之保有或丧失依给予国籍国家之法律定之。

第19条

各国得在公海上或不属任何国家管辖之其他处所逮捕海盗船舶或航空器，或以海盗行为劫取并受海盗控制之船舶，逮捕其人员并扣押其财物。逮捕国之法院得判决应处之刑罚，并得判定船舶、航空器或财物之处置，但须尊重善意第三人之权利。

第20条

逮捕涉有海盗行为嫌疑之船舶或航空器如无充分理由，对于因逮捕而发生之任何损失或损害，逮捕国应向船舶或航空器之隶籍国负赔偿之责。

因有海盗行为而须逮捕，惟军舰或军用航空器，或经授予此权之他种政府事务船舶或航空器，始得为之。

1.除干涉行为出于条约授权之情形外，军舰对公海上相遇之外国商船非有适当理由认为有下列嫌疑，不得登临该船：

(a)该船从事海盗行为；或

(b)该船从事贩卖奴隶；或

(C)该船悬挂外国国旗或拒不举示其国旗，而事实上与该军舰属同一国籍。

2.遇有前项（a)(b)(c)三款所称之情形，军舰得对该船之悬旗权利进行核查。为此目的，军舰得派由军官指挥之小艇前往嫌疑船舶。船舶文书经检验后，倘仍有嫌疑，军舰得在船上进一步施行检查，但须尽量审慎为之。

3.倘嫌疑查无实据，被登临之船舶并无任何行为足以启疑，其所受之任何损失或损害应予赔偿。

第23条

1.沿海国主管机关有正当理由认为外国船舶违犯该国法律规章时得进行紧追。此项追逐必须于外国船舶或其所属小艇之一在追逐国之内水、领海或毗连区内时开始，且须未曾中断方得在领海或毗连区外继续进行。在领海或毗连区内之外国船舶接获停船命令时，发令船舶无须同在领海或毗连区以内。倘外国船舶系在领海及毗连区公约第24条所称之毗连区内，惟有于该区设以保障之权利遭受侵害时，方得追逐之。

2.紧追权在被追逐之船舶进入其本国或第三国之领海时即告终止。

3.紧追非俟追逐船舶以可能采用之实际方法认定被追逐之船舶、或所属小艇之一、或与该船合作并以该船为母舰之其他船只，确在领海界限或毗连区以内，不得认为业已开始。惟有在外国船舶视听所及之距离内发出视觉或听觉之停船信号后，方得开始追逐。

4.紧追权仅得由军舰或军用航空器，或经特别授予此权之他种政府事务船舶或航空器行使之。

5.航空器实行紧追时：

(a)准用本条第一项至第三项之规定；

(b)发出停船命令之航空器必须自行积极追逐船舶，直至其所召唤之沿海国船舶或航空器前来接替追逐时为止，但其本身即能逮捕船舶者不在此限。如航空器仅发现船舶犯法或有犯法嫌疑，而其本身或接替追逐未曾中断之其他航空器或船舶未命令停船并予追逐，不足以构成在公海上逮捕之正当理由。

6.凡在一国管辖范围内被逮捕而经解送该国海港交主管机关审讯之船舶不得仅以该船在押解途中因环境需要，渡过一部分公海为理由而要求释放。

7.倘船舶在公海上被迫停船或被逮捕，而按当时情形紧追权之行使并无正当理由，其因而所受之任何损失或损害应予赔偿。

第24条

各国应参酌现行关于防止污染海水之条约规定制订规章，以防止因船舶或管线排放油料或因开发与探测海床及其底土而污染海水。

第25条

1.各国应参照主管国际组织所订定之标准与规章，采取办法，以防止倾弃放射废料而污染海水。

2.各国应与主管国际组织合作采取办法，以防止任何活动因使用放射材料或其他有害物剂而污染海水或其上空。

第26条

1.各国均有权在公海海床敷设海底电缆及管线。

2.沿海国除为探测大陆架及开发其天然资源有权采取合理措施外，对于此项电缆或管线之敷设或维护，不得阻碍。

3.敷设此项电缆或管线时，当事国对于海床上原已存在之电缆或管线应妥为顾及，尤不得使原有电缆或管线之修理可能，受有妨碍。

第27条

各国应采取必要立法措施，规定凡悬挂其国旗之船舶或属其管辖之人如故意或因过失破坏或损害公海海底电缆，致使电报或电话通讯停顿或受阻，或以同样情形破坏或损害海底管线或高压电缆，概为应予处罚之罪行。此项规定不适用于个人基于保全其生命或船舶之正当目的，虽曾为避免破损作一切必要之预防而仍发生之任何破坏或损害情事。

第28条

各国应采取必要立法措施，规定凡受该国管辖之公海海底电缆或管线所有人因敷设或修理此项电缆或管线致有破坏或损害另一电缆或管线之情事者，应偿付其修理费用。

第29条

各国应采取必要立法措施，确保船舶所有人之能证明其为避免损害海底电缆或管线而捐弃一锚、一网或其他渔具者向电缆或管线所有人取得赔偿，但以船舶所有人事先曾采取一切合理之预防措施为条件。

第30条

本公约之条款对于现已生效之公约或其他国际协定，就其当事各国间关系言，并不发生影响。

第31条

本公约在1958年10月31日以前听由联合国或任何专门机关之全体会员国及经由联合国大会邀请参加为本公约当事一方之任何其他国家签署。

第32条

本公约应予批准。批准文件应送交联合国秘书长存放。

第33条

本公约应听由属于第31条所称任何一类之国家加入。加入文件应送交联合国秘书长存放。

第34条

1.本公约应于第二十二件批准或加入文件送交联合国秘书长存放之日后第三十日起发生效力。

2.对于在第二十二件批准或加入文件存放后批准或加入本公约之国家，本公约应于各该国存放批准或加入文件后第三十日起发生效力。

第35条

1.缔约任何一方得于本公约生效之日起满五年后随时书面通知联合国秘书长请求修改本公约。

2.对于此项请求应采何种步骤，由联合国大会决定之。

第36条

联合国秘书长应将下列事项通知联合国各会员国及第31条所称之其他国家：

(a)依第31条、第32条及第33条对本公约所为之签署及送存之批准或加入文件。;

(b)依第34条本公约发生效力之日期；

(c)依第35条所提关于修改本公约之请求。

第37条

本公约之原本应交联合国秘书长存放，其中文、英文、法文、俄文及西班牙文各本同一作准；秘书长应将各文正式副本分送第31条所称各国

为此，下列全权代表各秉本国政府正式授予签字之权，谨签字于本公约，以昭信守。

1958年4月29日订于日内瓦。

英文

GENEVA CONVENTION ON THE HIGH SEAS，1958

THE STATES PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION

DESIRING to codify the rules of international law relating to the highseas，

RECOGNISING that the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea，held at Geneva from February 24 to April 27，1958，adopted the followingprovisions as generally declaratory of established principles ofinternational law，

HAVE AGREED as follows：

Article 1

The term“high seas”means all parts of the sea that are not includedin the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State.

Article 2

The high seas being open to all nations，no State may validly purportto subject any part of them to its sovereignty.Freedom of the high seasis exercised under the conditions laid down by these Articles and by theother rules of international law.It comprises，inter alia，both forcoastal and non-coastal States：

（1）Freedom of navigation；

（2）Freedom of fishing；

（3）Freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines；

（4）Freedom to fly over the high seas.

These freedoms，and others which are recognised by the generalprinciples of international law，shall be exercised by all States withreasonable regard to the interests of other States in their exercise ofthe freedom of the high seas.

Article 3

1.In order to enjoy the freedom of the seas on equal terms withcoastal States，States having no sea-coast should have free access to thesea.To this end a State situated between the sea and a State having nosea-coast shall by common agreement with the latter and in conformity withexisting international conventions accord：

（a）to the State having no sea-coast，on a basis of reciprocity，free transit through their territory，and

（b）to ships flying the flag of that State treatment equal to thataccorded to their own ships，or to the ships of any other States，asregards access to sea ports and the use of such ports.

2.States situated between the sea and a State having no sea-coastshall settle，by mutual agreement with the latter，and taking into accountthe rights of the coastal State or State of transit and the specialconditions of the State having no sea-coast，all matters relating tofreedom of transit and equal treatment in ports，in case such States arenot already parties to existing international conventions.Article 4

Every State，whether coastal or not，has the right to sail ships underits flag on the high seas.

Article 5

1.Each State shall fix the conditions for the grant of itsnationality to ships，for the registration of ships in its territory，andfor the right to fly its flag.Ships have the nationality of the Statewhose flag they are entitled to fly.There must exist a genuine linkbetween the State and the ship，in particular，the State must effectivelyexercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative，technical andsocial matters over ships flying its flag.

2.Each State shall issue to ships to which it has granted the rightto fly its flag documents to that effect.

Article 6

1.Ships shall sail under the flag of one State only and，save inexceptional cases expressly provided for in international treaties or inthese Articles，shall be subject to its exclusive jurisdiction on the highseas.A ship may not change its flag during a voyage or while in a port ofcall，save in the case of a real transfer of ownership or change ofregistry.

2.A ship which sails under the flags of two or more States，usingthem according to convenience，may not claim any of the nationalities inquestion with respect to any other State，and may be assimilated to aship without nationality.

Article 7

The provisions of the preceding Articles do not prejudice the questionof ships employed on the official service of an intergovernmenta

lorganisation flying the flag of the organisation.

Article 8

1.Warships on the high seas have complete immunity from thejurisdiction of any State other than the flag State.

2.For the purposes of these Articles，the term“warship”means a shipbelonging to the naval forces of a State and bearing the external marksdistinguishing warships of its nationality，under the command of anofficer duly commissioned by the government and whose name appears in theNavy List，and manned by a crew who are under regular naval discipline.

Article 9

Ships owned or operated by a State and used only on governmentnon-commercial service shall，on the high seas，have complete immunityfrom the jurisdiction of any State other than the flag State.

Article 10

1.Every State shall take such measures for ships under its flag asare necessary to ensure safety at sea with regard inter alia to：

（a）the use of signals，the maintenance of communications and theprevention of collisions；

（b）the manning of ships and labour conditions for crews takinginto account the applicable international labour instruments；

（c）the construction，equipment and seaworthiness of ships.

2.In taking such measures each State is required to conform togenerally accepted international standards and to take any steps which maybe necessary to ensure their observance.

Article 11

1.In the event of a collision or of any other incident of navigationconcerning a ship on the high seas，involving the penal or disciplinaryresponsibility of the master or of any other person in the service of theship，no penal or disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against suchpersons except before the judicial or administrative authorities either ofthe flag State or of the State of which such person is a national.

2.In disciplinary matters the State which has issued a master'scertificate or a certificate of competence or licence shall alone becompetent，after due legal process，to pronounce the withdrawal of suchcertificates，even if the holder is not a national of the State whichissued them.

3.No arrest or detention of a ship，even as a measure ofinvestigation，shall be ordered by any authorities other than those of theflag State.

Article 12

1.Every State shall require the master of a ship sailing under itsflag，in so far as he can do so without serious danger to the ship，thecrew or the passengers，

（a）to render assistance to any person found at sea in danger ofbeing lost；

（b）to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons indistress if informed of their need of assistance，in so far as such actionmay reasonably be expected of him；

（c）after a collision，to render assistance to the other ship，hercrew and her passengers and，where possible，to inform the other ship ofthe name of his own ship，her port of registry and the nearest port atwhich she will call.

2.Every coastal State shall promote the establishment and maintenanceof an adequate and effective search and rescue service regarding safety onand over the sea and-where circumstances so require-by way of mutualregional arrangements co-operate with neighbouring States for thispurpose.

Article 13

Every State shall adopt effective measures to prevent and punish thetransport of slaves in ships authorised to fly its flag，and to preventthe unlawful use of its flag for that purpose.Any slave taking refuge onboard any ship，whatever its flag，shall ipso facto be free.

Article 14

All States shall co-operate to the fullest possible extent in therepression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside thejurisdiction of any State.

Article 15

Piracy consists of any of the following acts：

（1）Any illegal acts of violence，detention or any act ofdepredation，c

ommitted for private ends by the crew or the passengers of aprivate ship or a private aircraft，and directed：

（a）On the high seas，against another ship or aircraft，oragainst persons or property on board such ship or aircraft；

（b）Against a ship，aircraft，persons or property in a placeoutside the jurisdiction of any State；

（2）Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a shipor of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship oraircraft；

（3）Any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an actdescribed in subparagraph（1）or subparagraph（2）of this Article.

Article 16

The acts of piracy，as defined in Article 15，committed by a warship，government ship or government aircraft whose crew has mutinied and takencontrol of the ship or aircraft are assimilated to acts committed by aprivate ship.

Article 17

A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it isintended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose ofcommitting one of the acts referred to in Article 15.The same applies ifthe ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act，so long as itremains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.

Article 18

A ship or aircraft may retain its nationality although it has become apirate ship or aircraft.The retention or loss of nationality isdetermined by the law of the State from which such nationality wasoriginally derived.

Article 19

On the high seas，or in any other place outside the jurisdiction ofany State，every State may seize a pirate ship or aircraft，or a shiptaken by piracy and under the control of pirates，and arrest the personsand seize the property on board.The courts of the State which carried outthe seizure may decide upon the penalties to be imposed，and may alsodetermine the action to be taken with regard to the ships，aircraft orproperty，subject to the rights of third parties acting in good faith.

Article 20

Where the seizure of a ship or aircraft on suspicion of piracy hasbeen effected without adequate grounds，the State making the seizure shallbe liable to the State the nationality of which is possessed by the shipor aircraft，for any loss or damage caused by the seizure.

Article 21

A seizure on account of piracy may only be carried out by warships ormilitary aircraft，or other ships or aircraft on government serviceauthorised to that effect.

Article 22

1.Except where acts of interference derive from powers conferred bytreaty，a warship which encounters a foreign merchant ship on the highseas is not justified in boarding her unless there is reasonable groundfor suspecting：

（a）That the ship is engaged in piracy；or

（b）That the ship is engaged in the slave trade；or

（c）That，though flying a foreign flag or refusing to show itsflag，the ship is，in reality，of the same nationality as the warship.

2.In the cases provided for in subparagraphs（a），（b）and（c）above，the warship may proceed to verify the ship's right to fly its flag.Tothis end，it may send a boat under the command of an officer to thesuspected ship.If suspicion remains after the documents have beenchecked，it may proceed to a further examination on board the ship，whichmust be carried out with all possible consideration.

3.If the suspicions prove to be unfounded，and provided that the shipboarded has not committed any act justifying them，it shall be compensatedfor any loss or damage that may have been sustained.

Article 23

1.The hot pursuit of a foreign ship may be undertaken when thecompetent authorities of the coastal State have good reason to believethat the ship has violated the laws and regulations of that State.Suchpursuit must be commenced when the foreign ship or one of its boats iswithin the internal wat

ers or the territorial sea or the contiguous zoneof the pursuing State，and may only be continued outside the territorialsea or the contiguous zone if the pursuit has not been interrupted.It isnot necessary that，at the time when the foreign ship within theterritorial sea or the contiguous zone receives the order to stop，theship giving the order should likewise be within the territorial sea or thecontiguous zone.If the foreign ship is within a contiguous zone，asdefined in Article 24 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and theContiguous Zone，the pursuit may only be undertaken if there has been aviolation of the rights for the protection of which the zone wasestablished.

2.The right of hot pursuit ceases as soon as the ship pursued entersthe territorial sea of its own country or of a third State.

3.Hot pursuit is not deemed to have begun unless the pursuing shiphas satisfied itself by such practicable means as may be available thatthe ship pursued or one of its boats or other craft working as a team andusing the ship pursued as a mother ship are within the limits of theterritorial sea，or as the case may be within the contiguous zone.Thepursuit may only be commenced after a visual or auditory signal to stophas been given at a distance which enables it to be seen or heard by theforeign ship.

4.The right of hot pursuit may be exercised only by warships ormilitary aircraft，or other ships or aircraft on government servicespecially authorised to that effect.

5.Where hot pursuit is effected by an aircraft：

（a）The provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of the present Articleshall apply mutaits mutandis；

（b）The aircraft giving the order to stop must itself activelypursue the ship until a ship or aircraft of the coastal State，summoned bythe aircraft，arrives to take over the pursuit，unless the aircraft isitself able to arrest the ship.It does not suffice to justify an arreston the high seas that the ship was merely sighted by the aircraft as anoffender or suspected offender，if it was not both ordered to stop andpursued by the aircraft itself or other aircraft or ships which continuethe pursuit without interruption.

6.The release of a ship arrested within the jurisdiction of a Stateand escorted to a port of that State for the purposes of an enquiry beforethe competent authorities，may not be claimed solely on the ground thatthe ship，in the course of its voyage，was escorted across a portion ofthe high seas，if the circumstances rendered this necessary.

7.Where a ship has been stopped or arrested on the high seas incircumstances which do not justify the exercise of the right of hotpursuit，it shall be compensated for any loss or damage that may have beenthereby sustained.Article 24

Every State shall draw up regulations to prevent pollution of the seasby the discharge of oil from ships or pipelines or resulting from theexploitation and exploration of the seabed and its subsoil，taking accountof existing treaty provisions on the subject.

Article 25

1.Every State shall take measures to prevent pollution of the seasfrom the dumping of radioactive waste，taking into account any standardsand regulations which may be formulated by the competent internationalorganisations.

2.All States shall co-operate with the competent internationalorganisations in taking measures for the prevention of pollution of theseas or air space above，resulting from any activities with radioactivematerials or other harmful agents.

Article 26

1.All States shall be entitled to lay submarine cables and pipelineson the bed of the high seas.

2.Subject to its right to take reasonable measures for theexploration of the continental shelf and the exploitation of its naturalresources，the coastal State may not impede the laying or maintenance ofsuch cables or pipelines.

3.When laying such cables or pi

pelines the State in question shallpay due regard to cables or pipelines already in position on the seabed.In particular，possibilities of repairing existing cables or pipelinesshall not be prejudiced.

Article 27

Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to providethat the breaking or injury by a ship flying its flag or by a personsubject to its jurisdiction of a submarine cable beneath the high seasdone wilfully or through culpable negligence，in such a manner as to beliable to interrupt or obstruct telegraphic or telephonic communications，and similarly the breaking or injury of a submarine pipeline orhigh-voltage power cable shall be a punishable offence.This provisionshall not apply to any break or injury caused by persons who acted merelywith the legitimate object of saving their lives or their ships，afterhaving taken all necessary precautions to avoid such break or injury.

Article 28

Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to providethat，if persons subject to its jurisdiction who are the owners of a cableor pipeline beneath the high seas，in laying or repairing that cable orpipeline，cause a break in or injury to another cable or pipeline，theyshall bear the cost of the repairs.

Article 29

Every State shall take the necessary legislative measures to ensurethat the owners of ships who can prove that they have sacrificed ananchor，a net or any other fishing gear，in order to avoid injuring asubmarine cable or pipeline，shall be indemnified by the owner of thecable or pipeline，provided that the owner of the ship has taken allreasonable precautionary measures beforehand.

Article 30

The provisions of this Convention shall not affect Conventions orother international agreements already in force，as between States Partiesto them.

Article 31

This Convention shall，until October 31，1958，be open for signatureby all States Members of the United Nations or of any of the SpecialisedAgencies and by any other State invited by the General Assembly to becomea Party to the Convention.

Article 32

This Convention is subject to ratification.The instruments ofratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the UnitedNations.

Article 33

This Convention shall be open for accession by any States belonging toany of the categories mentioned in Article 31.The instruments ofaccession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the UnitedNations.

Article 34

1.This Convention shall come into force on the thirtieth dayfollowing the date of deposit of the twenty-second instrument ofratification or accession with the Secretary-General of the UnitedNations.

2.For each State ratifying or acceding to the Convention after thedeposit of the twenty-second instrument of ratification or accession，theConvention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after deposit bysuch State of its instruments of ratification or accession.

Article 35

1.After the expiration of a period of five years from the date onwhich this Convention shall enter into force a request for the revision ofthis Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting Party by meansof a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.

2.The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide upon thesteps，if any，to be taken in respect of such request.

Article 36

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all StatesMembers of the United Nations and the other States referred to in Article31：

（a）Of signatures to this Convention and of the deposit ofinstruments of ratification or accession，in accordance with Articles 31，32 and 33；

（b）Of the date on which this Convention will come into force，inaccordance with Article 34；

（c）Of requests for revision in accordance

with Article 35.

Article 37

The original of this Convention of which the Chinese，English，French，Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic，shall be deposited withthe Secretary-General of the United Nations who shall send certifiedcopies thereof to all States referred to in Article 31.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned Plenipotentiaries，being dulyauthorised thereto by their respective Governments，have signed thisConvention.

DONE AT GENEVA，this twenty-ninth day of April one thousand ninehundred and fifty eight.