The International Court of Justice & Nuclear Weapons

In October 2016, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered judgments in the case of “Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament” - Marshall Islands v. the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan. The Marshall Islands contended that the nuclear powers did not fulfil their obligations under Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty ‘to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to […] nuclear disarmament’.

The very notion of this provision figured prominently in the ICJ’s 1996 Advisory Opinion on the “Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons” at the request of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

This event will deal with the (history of the) 2016 judgments, the 1996 Advisory Opinion, as well as the relevant issues of international law and arms control law.

With the participation of:

• Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent in the Marshall Islands case and Vice-President of IALANA, the NGO that together with other NGO’s was instrumental in the campaign for the 1996 Advisory Opinion.
• Eric Myjer, Professor emeritus of Conflict and Security Law, Department of Law, Faculty of Law Economics and Governance, Utrecht University, Director Centre for Conflict and Security Law, Utrecht University
• Kees Nederlof, Netherlands Ambassador for Nuclear Security (ret.), formerly International Coordinator of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT)
• Moderator: Olivier Ribbelink, Senior Researcher, T.M.C. Asser Instituut

Registration for this event is mandatory, as a limited number of seats are available.

In the year of the 70^th Anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the T.M.C. Asser Instituut has taken the initiative to organise a new series of lectures and seminars about the Court. On 10 February 2016, in celebration of the launch of the series, H.E. Judge Ronny Abraham, President of the International Court of Justice, had exceptionally accepted to deliver the inaugural lecture in the Great Hall of Justice in the Peace Palace, on: “The Role of States’ Consent in the Case Law of the International Court of Justice”. A recording of the event is accessibleon the Asser website. Since then events have been organised on inter alia the ICJ and Human Rights, the role and function of the ICJ, the future of the ICJ, the South-West Africa Cases 50 years later, and a viewing of the movie ‘All Rise’.  Speakers included former and present Judges of the Court as well as academics and practitioners.