1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia

TAC

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    • Dispute Settlement

CHAPTER IV : PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

“Article 13:

The High Contracting Parties shall have the determination and good faith to prevent disputes from arising. In case disputes on matters directly affecting them should arise, especially disputes likely to disturb regional peace and harmony, they shall refrain from the threat or use of force and shall at all times settle such disputes among themselves through friendly negotiations.

Article 14:

To settle disputes through regional processes, the High Contracting Parties shall constitute, as a continuing body, a High Council comprising a Representative at ministerial level from each of the High Contracting Parties to take cognizance of the existence of disputes or situations likely to disturb regional peace and harmony.

Article 15:

In the event no solution is reached through direct negotiations, the High Council shall take cognizance of the dispute or the situation and shall recommend to the parties in dispute appropriate means of settlement such as good offices, mediation, inquiry or conciliation. The High Council may however offer its good offices, or upon agreement of the parties in dispute, constitute itself into a committee of mediation, inquiry or conciliation. When deemed necessary, the High Council shall recommend appropriate measures for the prevention of a deterioration of the dispute or the situation.

Article 16:

The foregoing provision of this Chapter shall not apply to a dispute unless all the parties to the dispute agree to their application to that dispute. However, this shall not preclude the other High Contracting Parties not party to the dispute from offering all possible assistance to settle the said dispute. Parties to the dispute should be well disposed towards such offers of assistance.

Article 17:

Nothing in this Treaty shall preclude recourse to the modes of peaceful settlement contained in Article 33(l) of the Charter of the United Nations. The High Contracting Parties which are parties to a dispute should be encouraged to take initiatives to solve it by friendly negotiations before resorting to the other procedures provided for in the Charter of the United Nations.”

Article 19 states that "the Governments of the signatory States which are designated Depositories of this Treaty and of the instruments of ratification or accession." However, the Secretary-General of ASEAN has since taken over depository functions. See 'Additional Information' below.

21/06/1976

Article 19

“This Treaty shall enter into force on the date of the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification with the Governments of the signatory States which are designated Depositories of this Treaty and the instruments of ratification or accession.”

1987 Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia

1998 Second Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia

2010 Third Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia

2001 Rules Of Procedure Of The High Council Of The Treaty Of Amity And Cooperation In Southeast Asia

ASEAN Legal Instruments accessed on 20/09/2023

Article 18, Paragraph 3, of the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, as amended by Article 1 of the 1998 Second Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the 2010 Third Protocol Amending the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, provides that States and regional organisations outside Southeast Asia may accede to the Treaty with the consent of all the ASEAN States.

Depository functions for this instrument are now performed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN. Dates of ratification and accession given above were obtained from the ASEAN Secretariat’s Legal Instruments website and its electronic collection of instruments of ratification, accession and notification. For ASEAN States, the dates given appear to be the dates of execution of the instruments of ratification/accession, rather than their date of receipt by the depository. For non-ASEAN accessions, the dates given are the date of signing of the instruments of accession/extension.

The procedure for accession to the TAC by non-ASEAN member states appears to require first, a letter or declaration of intent transmitted from the acceding party to ASEAN member states, followed by the exchange of an Instrument of Accession signed by the acceding state and an Instrument of Extension signed by ASEAN member states.