IRRC No. 316

Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the use of nuclear weapons under international law - A few thoughts on its strengths and weaknesses

Reading time 3 min read
Download PDF
This article is also available in

On 8 July 1996, the International Court of Justice finally rendered its Advisory Opinion on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons. The procedure had been dragging on since the start of the public sittings on 30 October 1995. Several deadlines set by the Court for reaching a decision came and went, ultimately giving rise to the fear that there would be no decisive majority to affirm the basic unlawfulness of the use of nuclear weapons. This would have been a bitter setback for the initiators of the Advisory Opinion proceeding and for the development of international law

Download PDF

Continue reading #IRRC No. 316

All articles

Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the use of nuclear weapons under international law - A few thoughts on its strengths and weaknesses author: Manfred Mohr

3 min read

The International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion in the Nuclear Weapons Cases - A first appraisal author: John H. McNeill

4 min read

ICRC statement to the United Nations General Assembly on the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons author:

1 min read

Go back to the first article

More about International Review of the Red Cross, Nuclear weapons

article IRRC No. 922

The origins and influence of victim assistance: Contributions of the Mine Ban Treaty, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Convention on Cluster Munitions author: Bonnie Docherty, Alicia Sanders-Zakre

67 min read
article IRRC No. 919

The ICRC’s legal and policy position on nuclear weapons author:

41 min read
article IRRC No. 914

Editorial, Emerging voices: Increasing the diversity of voices featured in the International Review of the Red Cross author: Bruno Demeyere

5 min read

More from Manfred Mohr

article IRRC No. 316

Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the use of nuclear weapons under international law — A few thoughts on its strengths and weaknesses author: Manfred Mohr

3 min read