Legality Of The Threat Or Use Of Nuclear Weapons

" ""The threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, and in particular the principles and rules of humanitarian law ... There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control."" - Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, 8 July 1996 ""This book shows how courageous states from the developing world, working in concert with visionary lawyers, physicians and other sectors of international civil society, boldly obtained astonishing results from the highest court in the world. The World Court clearly ruled that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is illegal in almost all conceivable circumstances. The Court further underlined the unconditional obligation of the nuclear weapon states to begin and conclude negotiations on nuclear disarmament in all its aspects. It is now up to all of us to determine the follow-up, whatever the opposition. We cannot end this century without clear commitments and steps to eliminate nuclear weapons."" - Razali Ismail, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations, President of the United Nations General Assembly, 1996-1997 ""It is not often that a judicial opinion on a given question is both hailed and criticized by participants on all sides of the question. This book, written by a leading member of the team that helped to prepare the case on the illegality of the threat and use of nuclear weapons, explains succinctly what the World Court, and the judges in their separate statements, did and did not say. In so doing, it makes a compelling case for the proposition that the Opinion represents a milestone on the road to nuclear abolition."" - Peter Weiss, Co-President, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms The 20th century has been defined in large part by the unleashing of the terrible destructive power of the atom, and the subsequent struggle to overcome the threat of nuclear annihilation. If humankind survives, the 8 July 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, and the extraordinary process that led up to it, will have played an essential role. The (Il)legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons is a concise yet thorough guide to the case. In straightforward language, it describes the history of this unprecedented initiative and summarizes and explains states' arguments to the Court, the Court's findings, and the separate statements of the judges. The author provides cogent expert analysis and, most importantly, reveals how the opinion imparts hope and points the way to the future: "" The Court has authoritatively interpreted law which states acknowledge they must follow, including humanitarian law protecting civilians from indiscriminate effects of warfare, the United Nations Charter, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The implications are profound: abandonment of reliance on the threat and use of nuclear weapons as an instrument of national policy, and expeditious elimination of nuclear arsenals. The opinion can be cited as an authoritative statement of the law in any political or legal setting - including the United Nations and national courts and parliaments - in which nuclear weapon policies are challenged."" John Burroughs, an attorney for the Western States Legal Foundation in California, served as the legal coordinator for the World Court Project/International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms at the November 1995 hearings before the International Court of Justice. "

Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.

This case, entered on the Court's General List on 19 December 1994, under number 95, was the subject of an Advisory Opinion delivered on 8 July 1996. The documents relating to the case include: Volume I. Request for Advisory Opinion; Written Proceedings; Volume II. Oral Statements. A CD-ROM containing the annexes can be found in a sleeve at the end of each volume.

Shows how international law is central to ensuring the world's safety from the threat or use of nuclear weapons.

Dr Elli Louka has written a courageously realistic yet hopeful book on one of the central problems of the twenty-first century. Louka offers an unflinching examination of the uses and potential abuses of the nuclear instrument currently and in projected futures of the interlocking international war system and global economy. . . She looks squarely at the practice and inevitability of pre-emptive action in many of the contexts she projects. This is an important and timely study for anyone practicing or trying to understand international law and politics. From the foreword by W. Michael Reiman, Yale Law School, US It is often argued that the nuclear non-proliferation order divides the world into nuclear-weapon-haves and have-nots, creating a nuclear apartheid. Employing a careful and nuanced discussion of this claim, Elli Louka examines the architecture of the nuclear non-proliferation order, the fairness and effectiveness of international and regional institutions and scenarios for the future of nuclear weapons. A sophisticated study of a complex issue, this book is a must-read for policymakers and those who wish to understand the intricacies and challenges of developing institutions to address the nuclear weapon threat.

Despite recent attempts by scholars to examine the absolute prohibition of threats of force under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, threats remain a largely un-chartered area in international law when compared with actual uses of force. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach and utilising strategic literature and international relations theory, this book examines the theoretical nature behind a threat of force, which, helps to inform and explain why and how the normative structure operates in the way that it does. In addition to considering the normative rules regarding threats of force, this book focuses heavily on understanding the theory of threats of force or "threat theory". Drawing on strategic studies for an insight into practical workings of international law, the heart of the book examines whether international law, or indeed the international community, should distinguish between a threat of force which is little more than mere "sabre rattling" and one that is serious enough to send a state to DEFCON 1. Finally, the book considers the point at which a state pursuing nuclear capabilities may breach Article 2(4) with particular reference to both North Korean and Iranian efforts to pursue nuclear technology. This topical book will be of great interest not only to scholars and postgraduates in international law but also to academics and students in the fields of political science, international relations and strategic studies.

Are nuclear weapons legal or illegal under international law? This book aims to put in your hands information about all the main legal arguments you are likely to encounter. This question has been addressed by several quasi-legal independent tribunals, such as the London Nuclear Warfare Tribunal. There is a summary of evidence before that Tribunal, and its Judgment, included in this book. The question has been handled also by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which delivered Advisory Opinions. The key Advisory Opinion is included in this book, along with the more substantial Opinion of the ICJ Judge Weeramantry. Recent and current developments include discussion of the Trident Three case in Scotland along with the Lord Advocate's Reference, and the current case in the ICJ of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) v UK. A copy of the application in the RMI v UK case is included, as it is essential reading for anyone involved in contemporary decision making concerning nuclear weapons (that includes the coming debate about the renewal of Trident in the UK). The book concludes that the overwhelming balance of opinion (judicial and legal expert) is that the possession, threat to use, or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstances whatsoever is unlawful in international law and that individuals involved in decisions to develop, acquire, or deploy nuclear weapons can be held accountable as individuals under international law. An associated overwhelming conclusion is that the nuclear weapons states are in breach of their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The book explores the role and legal significance of civil society and related activism such as the profound influence it had via initiatives like the World Court Project that succeeded in persuading the UN General Assembly to refer the question to the ICJ. The book mentions several civil society initiatives current today. The book Foreword is by Richard Falk and David Krieger