fifth) instrument of ratification or accession was duly deposited. Once these requirements are fulfilled, the Convention is considered to have become “initially” valid. Additions to the circle of states bound by the Convention are made on the basis of paragraph 2. Article 40 Denunciation 1. Any Contracting State may denounce this Convention at any time by a notification addressed to the Secretary -General of the United Nations. 2. Such denunciation shall take effect for the Contracting State concerned one year from the date upon which it is received by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 3. Any State which has made a declaration or notification under Article 36 may, at any time thereafter, by a notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, declare that the Convention shall cease to extend to such territory one year after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General. This Article is an exact reproduction of the respective Article in the Refugee Convention. 1. Under Article 40, the Contracting Parties are not bound to any specified period of their adherence to the Convention. In other words, the Convention is concluded sine die and may be denounced at any time. However, such denunciation takes effect not immediately but only one year after the notification is received by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Similarly, states which extend the application of the Convention to their dependencies do not do so forever or for a fixed period. They may denounce the extension at any time with the same effect as prescribed for a general denunciation. 2. Ordinarily, with the expiration of the validity of a treaty all the obligations incumbent upon a state by virtue of the treaty expire. An exception must, however, be made for rights acquired under the treaty. It was therefore the view of the Ad Hoc Committee that denunciation did not affect the period of validity of travel documents issued by the state denouncing the Refugee Convention nor would it affect the provision for re-admission contained in these documents 249 issued while the state was a party to the Convention. It should be emphasized that this view must also be valid as regards the present Convention and that these are not the only cases of acquired rights under this Convention. For instance, a stateless person enjoying the rights set forth in Article 16 (2) could not be deprived of them if the court case in which he was involved continued after the denunciation became effective. Article 41 Revision 1. Any Contracting State may request revision of this Convention at any time by a notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall recommend the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request. This Article is an exact reproduction of the relevant Article in the Refugee Convention. This is now a standard provision in the United Nations Treaties. A revision of the Convention could be effected at any time with the consent of all parties despite the provision of this article. The provision of Article 45 of the Refugee Convention (corresponding to this Article) were interpreted by the Refugee Conference in the sense 249 SR.26, paras. 23, 24.