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Authority and Legal Aspects
updated 05/19/10
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed on July 1,
1968, requires "each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue
negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation
of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament,
and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective
international control."1 As of the year 2000, 187 state
parties have signed the NPT. The only states not party to the treaty are
Cuba, India, Israel, and Pakistan.2 At the 25 year review conference
of the Non-Proliferation Treaty the state parties agreed to extend the
Treaty indefinitely.
- Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice
"On July 8, 1996, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the judicial
branch of the United Nations, issued its advisory opinion, The Legality
of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons. The ICJ found 1) that the threat
or use of nuclear weapons 'would generally be contrary' to humanitarian
and other international law regulating the conduct of warfare, and 2)
that under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other
international law states are obligated to "bring to a conclusion
negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict
and effective international control."3
Mandate and Authorization for Citizen Inspections - pursuant to the
NPT
1. Article VI, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
2. Rebecca Johnson, "Acronym Reports: The Non-Proliferation Treaty:
Challenging Times", Acronym Report No.13, http://www.acronym.org.uk/acrorep/acro13.htm,
The Acronym Institute: London, February 2000.
3. Lawyer's Committee on Nuclear Policy, The International Law Framework
for Nuclear Weapon Policy, http://www.lcnp.org/wcourt/intlaw.htm.
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