<P> Currently 196 countries are parties to the treaty (some with stated reservations or interpretations). This includes every member of the United Nations (except the United States), plus the Cook Islands, Niue, the State of Palestine, and the Holy See . The United States has not ratified it . South Sudan did not sign the convention, however ratification was complete in January 2015 . Somalia's domestic ratification finished in January 2015 and the instrument was deposited with the United Nations in October 2015 . </P> <P> All successor states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and Slovakia) made declarations of succession to the treaty and currently apply it . </P> <P> The convention does not apply in the territories of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Gibraltar, Guernsey and Tokelau . </P> <P> Canada became a signatory to the Convention on 28 May 1990 and ratified in 1991 . Youth criminal laws in Canada underwent major changes resulting in the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) which went into effect on 1 April 2003 . The Act specifically refers to Canada's different commitments under the Convention . The convention was influential in the administrative Law decision of Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration). </P>

History of un convention on rights of the child