The Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy was signed in Paris on 29 July 1960, in a single copy, in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch, deposited with the Secretary-General of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation. Original signatories: the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. Article 19: ratification; it comes into force upon deposit of at least five instruments. Together with the Additional Protocol signed in Paris on 28 January 1964, the combined effect was 1 April 1968 (UNTS No. 13706, vol. 956). Depositary: the OEEC Secretary-General, later the OECD. It is not the 1963 Vienna Convention, nor the 1963 Brussels Supplementary Convention, nor the 2004 Protocol.

The preamble seeks adequate and equitable compensation for persons who suffer damage caused by nuclear incidents, without hindering the peaceful development of nuclear energy, and unification of the basic rules of liability. Article 1 defines a nuclear incident, a nuclear installation (reactors other than those comprised in any means of transport, processing plants and storage facilities) and the operator designated by the competent public authority — a framework, not an operational catalogue. Article 2: the Convention does not, in principle, apply to incidents occurring or damage suffered in the territory of non-Contracting States, unless national legislation otherwise provides.

Articles 3–6 channel liability to the installation’s operator, irrespective of fault, for damage to persons and property, with the stated exceptions for on-site property and for carriage; the right to compensation is exercised against the operator (or, if national law so provides, against the insurer). Article 7 fixes the aggregate compensation at 15 million European Monetary Agreement units of account, with liberty for a Party to set another amount, not less than 5 million — a principle, not a compensation calculator.

Article 10: the operator must maintain insurance or other financial security. Article 13: jurisdiction over actions lies, in principle, with the courts of the Contracting Party in whose territory the installation is situated — not a procedure handbook. Article 17: disputes are examined by the Steering Committee and, failing friendly settlement, may be submitted to the Tribunal of the Convention of 20 December 1957 on the Establishment of a Security Control in the Field of Nuclear Energy.

Article 20: amendments by mutual agreement of all Contracting Parties, in force when ratified or confirmed by two-thirds. Article 21: accession by Member or Associate countries of the Organisation by notification; other States with the unanimous assent of the Contracting Parties. Article 22: an initial term of ten years from entry into force, then successive five-year periods, with twelve months’ notice. Article 23: application to metropolitan territories, with optional notification for other territories. The 1964, 1982 and 2004 Protocols are later instruments; the text used here is the original UNTS text, not the OECD 1982 consolidation.

Cover: the Château de la Muette in Paris, the OEEC/OECD seat; we do not claim the signing room. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy; Convention on third party liability in the field of nuclear energy (UNTS 13706).