The present Law shall ratify, with reservations and declarations, the Agreement on Illicit Traffic by Sea, Implementing Article 17 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (hereinafter referred to as the Vienna Convention) signed on behalf of Ukraine in Strasbourg on December 20, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement).

According to Article 2 of the present Agreement, the member States of the Council of Europe (hereinafter referred to as the Parties) shall co-operate to the fullest extent possible to suppress illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances by sea, in conformity with the international law of the sea. In the implementation of the present Agreement, the Parties shall endeavor to ensure that their actions maximize the effectiveness of law enforcement measures against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances by sea.

Article 3 of the present Agreement shall envisage that each Party shall take such measures as may be necessary to establish its jurisdiction over the relevant offences when the offences are committed on board of a vessel flying its flag or displaying the marks of registry or bearing any other indication of nationality of any other Party to the present Agreement, as well as a vessel which is without nationality or which is assimilated to a vessel without nationality under the international law. It shall be established that the flag State shall have preferential jurisdiction over any relevant offence committed on board of its vessel.

According to Article 4 of the present Agreement, a Party which has reasonable grounds to suspect that a vessel flying its flag is engaged in or being used for the commission of the relevant offence, may request the assistance of other Parties in suppressing its use for that purpose. The Parties so requested shall render such assistance within the means available to them.

It shall be specified that a Party which has reasonable grounds to suspect that a vessel without nationality or assimilated to a vessel without nationality under the international law, is engaged in or being used for the commission of the relevant offence, shall inform such other Parties as appear most closely affected and may request the assistance of any such Party in suppressing its use for that purpose. The Party so requested shall render such assistance within the means available thereto.

Article 6 of the present Agreement shall stipulate that where the intervening State has reasonable grounds to suspect that a vessel, which is flying the flag or displaying the marks of registry of another Party or bears any other indications of nationality of the vessel, is engaged in or being used for the commission of the relevant offence, the intervening State may request the authorization of the flag State to stop and board the vessel in waters beyond the territorial sea of any Party, and to take some or all of the other actions specified in the present Agreement. No such actions may be taken by virtue of the present Agreement, without the authorization of the flag State. Аt that, the flag State shall immediately acknowledge the receipt of a request for authorization and shall communicate a decision thereon as soon as possible and, wherever practicable, within four hours after the receipt of the request. According to Article 8 of the present Agreement, if the flag State grants the request, such authorization may be made subject to conditions or limitations. Such conditions or limitations may, in particular, provide that the flag State’s express authorization be given before any specified steps are taken by the intervening State. At that, Ukraine shall declare that, when acting as an intervening State, it may subject its intervention to the condition that persons having its nationality who are surrendered to the flag State and there convicted of the relevant offence, shall have the possibility to be transferred to Ukraine to serve the sentence imposed.

It shall be specified that, in the application of the present Agreement, the Parties concerned shall take due account of the need not to endanger the safety of human lives at sea, the security of the vessel and the cargo, and not to prejudice any commercial or legal interest.

According to Article 14 of the present Agreement, a flag State wishing to exercise its preferential jurisdiction shall notify the intervening State to this effect as soon as possible and at the latest within fourteen days from the receipt of the summary of evidence of any relevant offences. It shall be set forth that, if the flag State fails to do this, it shall be deemed to have waived the exercise of its preferential jurisdiction. Where the flag State has notified the intervening State that it intends to exercise its preferential jurisdiction, the exercise of the jurisdiction of the intervening State shall be suspended, except for the purpose of surrendering persons, vessels, cargoes, and evidence in accordance with the present Agreement.

If any offence for which the flag State decides to exercise its preferential jurisdiction is punishable by death penalty under the law of that State, and if in respect of such an offence the death penalty is not provided by the law of the intervening State or is not normally carried out, the surrender of any person may be refused, unless the flag State gives such assurances as the intervening State shall consider sufficient that the death penalty will not be carried out.

Article 17 of the present Agreement shall establish that each Party shall designate an authority, which shall be responsible for sending and answering requests according to the provisions of the present Agreement (in Ukraine, this authority shall be the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Ukraine). In addition, the Parties shall designate a central authority which shall be responsible for the notification of the exercise of preferential jurisdiction (in Ukraine, this authority shall be the Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine).

According to Article 19 of the present Agreement, all communications under Articles 4 to 16 of the present Agreement shall be made in writing. Modern means of telecommunications, such as telefax, may be used. In addition, Ukraine shall declare that it reserves the right to require that requests, other communications and supporting documents sent thereto, be made in or accompanied by a translation into the Ukrainian language or into one of the official languages of the Council of Europe.

Article 22 of the present Agreement shall stipulate that each Party shall take such measures as may be necessary in order to inform the owners and masters of vessels flying its flag that States Parties to the present Agreement may be granted the authority to board vessels beyond the territorial sea of any Party and in order to inform them, in particular, of their obligation to comply with instructions given by a boarding party from an intervening State exercising that authority.

It shall be set forth that the Parties concerned shall, if this is not contrary to the basic principles of their national legislation, keep confidential any evidence and information provided by another Party in pursuance of the present Agreement, except to the extent that its disclosure is necessary for the application of the present Agreement or for any investigations or judicial proceedings.

The present Agreement shall stipulate that the present Agreement shall be open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe which have already expressed their consent to be bound by the Vienna Convention. Instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

After the entry into force of the present Agreement, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, after consulting the Contracting States to the present Agreement, may invite any State which is not a member of the Council of Europe, but which has expressed its consent to be bound by the Vienna Convention, to accede to the present Agreement, by a decision taken by the majority of votes and by the unanimous vote of the representatives of the Contracting States entitled to sit on the Committee.

Article 29 of the present Agreement shall set forth that any State may, at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession, specify the territory or territories in respect of which its consent to be bound by the present Agreement shall apply. It shall also be established that any State may, at any later date, by a declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, extend its consent to be bound by the present Agreement to any other territory specified in such a declaration.

According to Article 32 of the present Agreement, after the entry into force of the present Agreement, a Monitoring Committee of experts representing the Parties shall be convened at the request of any Party to the present Agreement by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The Monitoring Committee shall review the practice of the application of the present Agreement and shall make appropriate suggestions to secure its efficient operation. It shall be specified that each Party shall send every second year a report on the application of the present Agreement to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in such a form and in such a manner as may be decided by the Monitoring Committee or the European Committee on Crime Problems. The Monitoring Committee may decide to circulate the information supplied or a report thereon to the Parties and to such international organizations or bodies as it shall deem appropriate.

Article 34 of the present Agreement shall establish that, in case of a dispute between Parties with respect to the interpretation or the application of the present Agreement, the Parties shall seek a settlement of such a dispute through negotiations or any other peaceful means of their choice, including by way of the submission of such a dispute to the European Committee on Crime Problems, to an arbitral tribunal whose decisions shall be binding upon the Parties to such a dispute, mediation, conciliation or judicial process, as agreed upon by the Parties concerned. At that, Ukraine shall declare that, in respect of any dispute concerning the interpretation or the application of the present Agreement, it shall recognize as compulsory, without prior agreement, and subject to reciprocity, the submission of such a dispute to arbitration.

According to Article 35 of the present Agreement, any Party may, at any time, denounce the present Agreement by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Such denunciation shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiry of a period of three months after the date of the receipt of such a notification by the Secretary General.