Art. 65 is the first of two Articles in the Convention's Chapter IX entitled “Amendment”. Art. 65 deals with the initiation of the procedure to amend the Convention. Art. 66 deals with the decision on an amendment and its entry into force. It also deals with the effect of an amendment on an existing consent to jurisdiction.

The drafts leading to Art. 65 show little substantive change and led to hardly any debate (History, Vol. I, pp. 284, 286; Vol. II, pp. 281/2, 952).

Any State party to the Convention may take the initiative for an amendment. The proposal is to be directed to the Administrative Council through the Secretary-General. Since under Art. 4(1) the Administrative Council is composed of the representatives of all States parties to the Convention, this procedure assures that all these States will be apprised of the proposal.

Under Art. 7(1) the Administrative Council holds at least one meeting a year. The period of 90 days is designed to give the members of the Administrative Council sufficient time to study the proposed amendment before a decision is made. If the proposal arrives with the Secretary-General later than 90 days before the Administrative Council's meeting, it will have to be considered at a subsequent meeting.