Articles On Nuclear Issues

NIS is bringing a legal challenge against the government's plan to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system. Grounds for the claim are that the government failed to carry out a promised Consultation and that building a new nuclear system is contrary to international law and the Non- Proliferation Treaty. An Application for Judical Review with the High Court was lodged on Friday 30th March 2006. The application may be granted on the submitted papers or an Application Hearing may be called.

Peacerights and the Nuclear Information Service are calling for governmental accountability on questions of illegality and due process regarding the replacement of Trident proposed in the Government’s White Paper, ‘The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent’, published on 4 December 2006.

Peacerights Legal Opinion on the Proposed Replacement of the Trident Nuclear Weapons System finds that the government has failed to carry out a promised consultation and is wrong in law in relation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

I'm going to speak this morning as an UK lawyer with practical experience of trying to litigate issues arising from the UK’s possession of the nuclear weapon system. I’ll be speaking more with my litigation hat on as Public Interest Lawyers, whereas this afternoon I’ll be speaking more with my Peacerights hat on when I’m talking about people’s tribunals.

A nuclear weapons treaty secretly agreed between Britain and the US could be in breach of international law, the government was warned yesterday.

Article in Nature: Nuclear weapons are not being disarmed as quickly as they should. SPL The impending renewal of a pact on nuclear research between the United Kingdom and the United States could breach the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), British lawyers say.

Ministers today faced demands to come clean over the extent of US-UK nuclear co-operation amid claims it could break international law.

Is the UK in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by its renewal of the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) with the USA ?

This briefing paper highlights the main arguments on the illegality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons in the light of international humanitarian law examined also with regards to the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion of July 8th 1996 which is, however, mistakenly relied on as the main argument of the illegality of nuclear weapons.

Paper to “Nuclear Weapons and the Law: Agenda and Actors” Waseda International Conference of the Hague International Peace Conferences,
Waseda University, Tokyo, 31 July – 2 August 2001
By Phil Shiner, Solicitor, Public Interest Lawyers and Peacerights, UK