This Protocol shall enter into force six months after two instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited.

For each Party to the Conventions thereafter ratifying or acceding to this Protocol, it shall enter into force six months after the deposit by such Party of its instrument of ratification or accession.

Any High Contracting Party may propose amendments to this Protocol.

The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to the depositary which shall decide, after consultation with all the High Contracting Parties and the International Committee of the Red Cross, whether a conference should be convened to consider the proposed amendment.

The depositary shall invite to that conference all the High Contracting Parties as well as the Parties to the Conventions, whether or not they are signatories of this Protocol.

In case a High Contracting Party should denounce this Protocol, the denunciation shall only take effect six months after receipt of the instrument of denunciation. If, however, on the expiry of six months, the denouncing Party is engaged in the situation referred to in Article 1, the denunciation shall not take effect before the end of the armed conflict. Persons who have been deprived of liberty, or whose liberty has been restricted, for reasons related to the conflict shall nevertheless continue to benefit from the provisions of this Protocol until their final release.

The denunciation shall be notified in writing to the depositary, which shall transmit it to all the High Contracting Parties.

signatures affixed to this Protocol and the deposit of instruments of ratification and accession under Articles 21 and 22;

the date of entry into force of this Protocol under Article 23; and

communications and declarations received under Article 24.

After its entry into force, this Protocol shall be transmitted by the depositary to the Secretariat of the United Nations for registration and publication, in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

The depositary shall also inform the Secretariat of the United Nations of all ratifications and accessions received by it with respect to this Protocol.