Arms control & disarmament projects

Implementation of the 1997 Ottawa Landmine Convention
Researchers: Angela Woodward
Past funders: Landmine Monitor, Government of Belgium, The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Ministry of Defence

VERTIC has been involved in promoting and supporting effective implementation of the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines since the treaty’s entry into force in 1999. Research on the project has concentrated on the verification and compliance mechanisms; including the implementation of Article 7, which obliges states to report on their compliance; Article 8 relating to the treaty’s compliance provisions; and the requirement under Article 9 to adopt national implementation legislation. VERTIC works closely with states parties, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and Landmine Monitor. VERTIC contributed to the annual Landmine Monitor report for several years.

Guide to reporting under Article 7
In 2001 VERTIC published a Guide to Reporting under Article 7 of the Ottawa Convention. Based on consultations with states parties, international and non-governmental organisations, and with the assistance of Landmine Action (UK), the guide was designed to assist states parties in meeting their legal obligation to report annually to the UN Secretary-General on their activities under the treaty. The guide also suggested areas where voluntary reporting might be useful. It illustrated best practice for completing Article 7 report forms, including recommendations on the type, format and amount of information that should be provided. The publication was intended to be useful to officials completing the forms and to those tasked with assembling the necessary information. The guide also included a CD-ROM containing the blank report forms.

Funding for the production and publication of the guide was provided by the Government of Belgium. The guide was presented to the Second Meeting of States Parties held in Managua, Nicaragua in November 2001.

Copies of the guide may be obtained in hard copy from VERTIC or downloaded from this website. It is also available in other UN languages from the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs.

Guide to fact-finding missions
Article 8 of the Ottawa Convention details procedures that may be used to help resolve a concern about compliance with the treaty. The procedures include issuing a request for clarification, using the good offices of the UN Secretary-General and dispatching a fact-finding mission to collect relevant information for assessment at a meeting of states parties. As none of these procedures has yet been used, despite credible cases of suspected non-compliance being raised in meetings of states parties, there remains some uncertainty as to how they will be implemented.

VERTIC has contributed to discussions among states parties and interested organisations on the issue by producing a Guide to Fact-Finding Missions under the Ottawa Convention. Published in 2003, the guide is intended to assist states parties in their advance planning and preparations for receiving a fact-finding mission, as well as suggesting activities they may wish to carry out immediately prior to, during and after receiving an actual mission. It also provides information on how fact-finding missions relate to the rest of the Ottawa Convention and when and how such missions may be initiated and organised.

VERTIC launched the guide at the states parties’ consultation on the facilitation and clarification of compliance held in Geneva, Switzerland in January 2003. It is available in hard-copy from VERTIC or from the VERTIC website.

Publications
Angela Woodward, Guide to fact-finding missions under the Ottawa Convention, VERTIC, December 2002.
VERTIC, Guide to Reporting under Article 7 of the Ottawa Convention, VERTIC, London, 2001.
Angela Woodward, ‘Verifying the Ottawa Convention’, Verification Yearbook 2001, VERTIC, London, 2001.
Laurence Baxter and Angela Woodward, with Trevor Findlay, ‘The Mine Ban Treaty and National Implementation Legislation’, Landmine Monitor 2001, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Washington, 2001.
Angela Woodward, 'The United Nations' Role in Implementing the Compliance Aspects of the Ottawa Convention', Landmine Monitor 2000, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Washington, 2000.
Trevor Findlay, ‘Verification of the Ottawa Convention: workable hybrid or fatal compromise?’, Disarmament Forum, September 1999.
VERTIC, ‘Landmines in International Law: Ratification and National Implementation’, Landmine Monitor 1999, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Washington, 1999.
Joe McGrath and David Robertson, ‘Monitoring the Landmine Convention: Ratification and National Implementation Legislation’, VERTIC Research Report No. 5, VERTIC, London, 1999.

Links
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD)
International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA)
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Human Rights Watch (Arms Division)
Landmine Action
Landmine Monitor
Mines Action Canada
United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs (UNDDA) (Ottawa Convention website)
United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS)

The above publications are available in portable document format (PDF) and require the installation of Adobe Reader. To download a free copy of the software visit the Adobe website.