Recueil Des Cours, Collected Courses, Tome 424
Description:... Watch the interview with Masahiko Asada on International Law of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
Masahiko ASADA, International Law of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament
Ever since its invention and first detonation, the nuclear weapon as an unparalleled instrument of war has been a source of anxiety to the international community of States as well as to all humankind. It is no surprise that the United Nations General Assembly chose for its very first resolution the question of how to "deal with the problem raised by the discovery of atomic energy and other related matters", and decided to establish the Atomic Energy Commission. Thus, the United Nations commenced its work with a concern for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. That concern continues to this day.
To turn our eyes to international law, however, it is not fully apparent that nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament have been dealt with as something belonging to the mainstream of that law. Why is it so? In light of such misgiving, this study examines as its ultimate objective whether this area of law occupies a firm and solid position and status in international law despite its inherently close relationship to such a highly sensitive political area of national and global security.
It takes up certain representative or conspicuous topics in this area - such as nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran, nuclear non-proliferation sanctions, nuclear weapon testing (particularly the CTBT not yet in force), the legal nature of security assurances given to non-nuclear-weapon States, and the recently adopted Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It analyzes these issues including through the application of general international law rules, such as those on the law of treaties, law of State responsibility and the law of international organizations. The study concludes not only that this area of international law should properly be considered to be in the mainstream of international law but also that the outcome of studies in this area should be shared more extensively as they encompass many questions common to other areas of international law.
Show description