On 9 December 1948, in Paris, the UN General Assembly, at its third session, adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, by resolution 260 A (III), at the 179th plenary meeting (vote 56–0–0). The place: Palais de Chaillot. Article X: the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic; the Convention shall bear that date. Article XI: open until 31 December 1949 for signature on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State invited by the Assembly; ratifications with the Secretary-General. After 1 January 1950, accession. The first signatures in the UN register: 11 December 1948. Depositary: the Secretary-General. The original is deposited in the archives of the United Nations (Article XVIII). Registration ex officio on the date of entry into force (Article XIX): UNTS I-1021, volume 78.

The preamble recalls General Assembly resolution 96 (I) of 11 December 1946: genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations. It recognizes that at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity; international co-operation is required. Article I: the Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II: genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Article III: punishable are genocide, conspiracy, direct and public incitement, attempt and complicity.

Article IV: persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals. Article V: the Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their Constitutions, the necessary legislation, and in particular effective penalties. Article VI: trial by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction. Article VII: these acts shall not be considered as political crimes for the purpose of extradition; the Parties pledge themselves to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in force. Article VIII: any Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter as they consider appropriate. Article IX: disputes, including those relating to the responsibility of a State, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.

Article XII: extension to territories for whose foreign relations a Party is responsible. Article XIII: on the day when the first twenty instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited, the Secretary-General shall draw up a procès-verbal; the Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following that deposit. Entry into force: 12 January 1951. Later ratifications take effect ninety days after deposit. Article XIV: ten years from entry into force, then successive periods of five years, denunciation at least six months before. Article XV: if the number of Parties falls below sixteen, the Convention shall cease to be in force. Article XVI: a request for revision; the Assembly shall decide. It is not a treaty signed in a bloc on the day of adoption; opening for signature is Article XI.

The Palais de Chaillot, Paris, seat of the third session of the Assembly. The city of adoption, not the signing room. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

For context: Genocide Convention. The text: UNTS, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, vol. 78, I-1021.