International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (1996)

E727463

ICJ advisory opinion international legal instrument judicial decision

The International Court of Justice’s 1996 advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons is a landmark legal assessment that examined whether nuclear weapons could ever be lawful under international law and clarified states’ obligations to pursue nuclear disarmament in good faith.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
ICJ Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion	1
International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (1996) canonical	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ICJ advisory opinion ⓘ international legal instrument ⓘ judicial decision ⓘ
appliesPrinciple	Martens Clause NERFINISHED ⓘ principle of distinction between civilians and combatants ⓘ principle of proportionality in the use of force ⓘ prohibition of indiscriminate weapons ⓘ prohibition of unnecessary suffering ⓘ protection of the natural environment in armed conflict ⓘ
askedQuestion	Is the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstance permitted under international law? ⓘ
author	International Court of Justice NERFINISHED ⓘ
bindingOn	none (advisory opinion only) ⓘ
citation	Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1996 NERFINISHED ⓘ
conclusion	Court could not definitively conclude on legality or illegality of use of nuclear weapons in an extreme circumstance of self‑defence in which the very survival of a State would be at stake ⓘ no comprehensive and universal prohibition of the threat or use of nuclear weapons as such exists in conventional or customary international law ⓘ states are under an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control ⓘ threat or use of nuclear weapons must comply with principles and rules of international humanitarian law ⓘ threat or use of nuclear weapons must comply with requirements of the UN Charter, particularly on self‑defence and use of force ⓘ threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict ⓘ
contains	dissenting opinions by several judges ⓘ separate opinions by several judges ⓘ
date	8 July 1996 ⓘ
field	disarmament law ⓘ international humanitarian law ⓘ international law ⓘ law of armed conflict ⓘ
influenced	interpretation of Article VI of the NPT ⓘ positions of non‑nuclear‑weapon states in multilateral disarmament forums ⓘ subsequent debates on nuclear disarmament ⓘ
interprets	Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter ⓘ Article 51 of the United Nations Charter ⓘ Article VI of the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ⓘ
language	English ⓘ French ⓘ
legalStatus	advisory and non‑binding ⓘ
majorityDecision	delivered by a narrow majority of judges ⓘ
recognizedAs	authoritative interpretation of states’ obligation to pursue nuclear disarmament in good faith ⓘ landmark decision in the law of nuclear weapons ⓘ
relatedTo	Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons NERFINISHED ⓘ United Nations General Assembly resolution 49/75 K NERFINISHED ⓘ customary international humanitarian law ⓘ
requestedBy	United Nations General Assembly NERFINISHED ⓘ
seatOfCourt	Peace Palace, The Hague, Netherlands NERFINISHED ⓘ
subject	legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons ⓘ
topic	conditions for lawful self‑defence under the UN Charter ⓘ legality of nuclear deterrence doctrines ⓘ
year	1996 ⓘ

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Article VI → interpretedBy → International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (1996) ⓘ

subject surface form: Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Common Article 1 → citedIn → International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (1996) ⓘ

this entity surface form: ICJ Nuclear Weapons Advisory Opinion