The Entry into Force of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and International Legal Restrictions on Their Use
https://doi.org/10.24833/RJWPLN-2023-2-58-73
Abstract
The present article analyzes the consequences of the coming into force of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which forbids use of nuclear weapons and their deployment on the territories of states that ratified it. The article is based on the main international treaties that regulate the status of nuclear weapons – the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and the 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons divided states into two groups – States Participants to the Treaty and states that are not party to it. According to the Treaty, the use of nuclear weapons is prohibited in the territory of States Participants and must be considered a war crime. The use of nuclear weapons prohibited in the territory of states that are not party to the Treaty is subject to the same regime as before. The International Court of Justice considered this regime in its Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat and Use of Nuclear Weapons of 1996. The present article analyses this Advisory Opinion.
The author comes to the conclusion that the legal foundations upon which the Advisory Opinion is based remain in force, including its central provision that there it is not forbidden for a state to use nuclear weapons when its survival is at stake. This situation may occur when a state enters into an armed conflict with another state or group of states (allied by their membership in a military-political organization) with superior military and economic potential. The use of nuclear weapons is not forbidden against all members of this military-political organization.
About the Author
I. S. Marusin
Saint Petersburg State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Igor S. Marusin – Doctor of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor at the Chair of International Law
7–9, Universitetskaya nab., Saint Petersburg, 199034
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Review
For citations:
Marusin I.S. The Entry into Force of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and International Legal Restrictions on Their Use. Russian Journal of World Politics and Law of Nations. 2023;2(2):58-73. https://doi.org/10.24833/RJWPLN-2023-2-58-73
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