Nuclear Weapons under International Law


Book Description

Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.




Nuclear Law


Book Description

This open access book traces the journey of nuclear law: its origins, how it has developed, where it is now, and where it is headed. As a discipline, this highly specialized body of law makes it possible for us to benefit from the life-saving applications of nuclear science and technology, including diagnosing cancer as well as avoiding and mitigating the effects of climate change. This book seeks to give readers a glimpse into the future of nuclear law, science and technology. It intends to provoke thought and discussion about how we can maximize the benefits and minimize the risks inherent in nuclear science and technology. This compilation of essays presents a global view in discipline as well as in geography. The book is aimed at representatives of governments -- including regulators, policymakers and lawmakers -- as well representatives of international organizations and the legal and insurance sectors. It will be of interest to all those keen to better understand the role of law in enabling the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear technology around the world. The contributions in this book are written by leading experts, including the IAEA's Director General, and discuss the four branches of nuclear law -- safety, security, safeguards and nuclear liability -- and the interaction of nuclear law with other fields of national and international law.




Handbook on Nuclear Law


Book Description

This handbook is a practical aid to legislative drafting that brings together, for the first time, model texts of provisions covering all aspects of nuclear law in a consolidated form. Organized along the same lines as the Handbook on Nuclear Law, published by the IAEA in 2003, and containing updated material on new legal developments, this publication represents an important companion resource for the development of new or revised nuclear legislation, as well as for instruction in the fundamentals of nuclear law. It will be particularly useful for those Member States embarking on new or expanding existing nuclear programmes.




The 1988 Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention


Book Description

This publication complements IAEA International Law Series No. 3 and reproduces the explanatory text on the 1988 Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy.







The International Legal Framework for Nuclear Security


Book Description

This publication brings together the primary legally binding international instruments and the internationally accepted non-binding instruments that constitute the international legal framework for nuclear security. It sets out the legislative bases for the mandate of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the area of nuclear security, in order to increase awareness of the Agency's role in facilitating national, regional and international efforts to enhance nuclear security, including measures to protect against nuclear terrorism. It is intended that the overview of the salient provisions of the relevant binding and non-binding instruments will increase understanding of the existing legal framework governing nuclear security and counter-terrorism and thereby assist States, intergovernmental organizations and other stakeholders in the implementation of those provisions at the national, regional and international level.




Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material


Book Description

The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material was signed at Vienna and at New York on 3 March 1980. The Convention is the only international legally binding undertaking in the area of physical protection of nuclear material. It establishes measures related to the prevention, detection and punishment of offenses relating to nuclear material. A Diplomatic Conference in July 2005 was convened to amend the Convention and strengthen its provisions. The amended Convention makes it legally binding for States Parties to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage as well as transport. It also provides for expanded cooperation between and among States regarding rapid measures to locate and recover stolen or smuggled nuclear material, mitigate any radiological consequences of sabotage, and prevent and combat related offences. The amendments will take effect once they have been ratified by two-thirds of the States Parties of the Convention.







International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX): A Collective View on the First Two Decades


Book Description

Since its establishment in September 2003, the International Expert Group on Nuclear Liability (INLEX) has played an important role in raising awareness and understanding of the nuclear liability instruments adopted under the IAEA’s auspices. Over the course of the past two decades, the group has advised on many issues related to nuclear liability and reached conclusions and made recommendations on possible gaps and ambiguities in the scope and coverage of the existing instruments. To mark this 20th anniversary, this publication includes papers on several nuclear liability topics and the work of INLEX, contributed by some of the group's current members. The aim of this publication is to increase awareness of the role of INLEX, as well as nuclear liability as an important aspect of nuclear law. The publication is intended for nuclear law professionals, academics and practitioners as well as policy makers.




State Responsibility in the International Legal Order


Book Description

State responsibility in international law is considered one of the cornerstones of the field. For a long time it remained the exclusive responsibility system due to the primacy of States as subjects of international law. Its unique position has nonetheless been challenged by several developments both within and outside the international legal order, such as the rise of alternative responsibility ideas and practices, as well as globalization and its consequences. This book adopts a critical and holistic approach to the law of State responsibility and analyzes the functionality of the general rules of State responsibility in a changed international landscape characterized by the fragmentation of responsibility. It is argued that State responsibility is not equally relevant across the broad spectrum of international obligations, and that alternative constructions of responsibility, namely international criminal law and international liability, have increased in standing.