New Hope for Nuclear Disarmament or “Much Ado About Nothing?”: Legal Assessment of the New “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” and the Joint Statement by the USA, UK, and France Following its Adoption

Article published by Daniel Rietiker in the Harvard International Law Journal, 8 December 2017 (online). Success has become rare in the sensitive field of nuclear arms control. But what happened on 7 July 2017 at the United Nations in New York deserves to be remembered and analyzed because the adoption of a Treaty on the…

The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) – A commentary by John Burroughs

[John Burroughs is Executive Director of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP)] The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) released beginning of February 2018 at the Pentagon ignores international legal obligations of the United States and increases the risks of nuclear war. Prepared by the Department of Defense in consultation with other agencies, the review was approved…

Threat or Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Right to Life: Follow-up Submissions to the UN Human Rights Committee on draft General Comment no. 36

International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and Swiss Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament (SLND), submitted October 5, 2017 The present submissions are limited to para. 13 of draft General Comment no. 36 on the Right to life (Article 6 ICCPR) currently under consideration,[1] which reads as follows: “The [threat] or use of weapons of…

Russian Foreign Ministry: Prohibition on nuclear weapons would be contrary to national interests (Kommersant, 12 September 2017)

МИД РФ: запрет ядерного оружия противоречит национальным интересам России Россия не будет присоединяться к открывающемуся 20 сентября к подписанию международному Договору о запрещении ядерного оружия. Об этом «Ъ» рассказал директор Департамента по вопросам нераспространения и контроля над вооружениями МИД России Михаил Ульянов. По его словам, этот документ «противоречит национальным интересам России и российскому видению того,…

IALANA Statement Regarding the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on the Occasion of its Opening for Signature on 20 September 2017

IALANA – the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms – welcomes the adoption on 7 July 2017 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The nuclear weapons ban treaty is a powerful and eloquent statement, grounded in an understanding of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear explosions, of the political, moral, and…

Nuclear Coalitions and the Ban Treaty: A Reaction to the First Draft Treaty Text

By Daniel Rietiker (PhD), on behalf of Swiss Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament (SLND – SAFNA)[1] June 6, 2017 Introduction In the ongoing negotiations with a view to adopting a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons (“ban treaty”), the question whether States hosting nuclear weapons on their territory or relying on a nuclear umbrella should be able to…

Sign the Lawyers’ Letter on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons!

LAWYERS’ LETTER ON THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS Nuclear arms are the only weapons of mass effect and destruction not yet prohibited by an international convention, even though they are the most destructive and indiscriminate weapons ever created. People are capable of good-faith, law-guided, problem solving at all levels of society: family, neighborhood, national, international.…

The (Il?)legality of Nuclear Weapons Tests Under International Law—Filling the Possible Legal Gap by Ensuring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty’s Entry into Force

Please click here for a recent article by Daniel Rietiker published in the Insights of ASIL (American Society of International Law) pleading for the usefulness of a timely entry into force of the CTBT.

Withdrawal Clauses in Arms Control Treaties: Some Reflections about a Future Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons

By Daniel Rietiker It might appear strange to care about withdrawal from a treaty before it has been negotiated or concluded. We are nevertheless of the opinion that, in modern treaty making, States conceive the acts of joining and leaving a treaty regime together and, therefore, the discussion of the right of withdrawal regarding a…

Why Did Trump Pick a Fight with Putin Over the Nuclear Weapons Treaty?

By Joe Cirincione Published in “Defence One” February 9, 2017 President Donald Trump has already picked a fight with Russia’s Vladimir Putin over nuclear weapons and the New START treaty. It is a curious battle to choose. The treaty enjoys the overwhelming backing of America’s top national security leaders and military commanders. Trump reportedly didn’t know what…