The Nuclear Age, A Threat to Humanity and a Threat to Law?

• Author: Cormac O'Daly
• Position: Senior Sophister Law and French Student, Trinity College, Dublin
• Pages: 43-54

The

Nuclear

Age

THE

NUCLEAR

AGE,

A

THREAT

TO

HUMANITY

AND

A

THREAT

TO

LAW?

CORMAC

O'DALY*

The

submission

by

the General

Assembly

of

the United Nations

of

a

question

on the

legality

of

the

threat or

use

of

nuclear

weapons

provided

the

International

Court

of

Justice

(ICJ)

with

the

chance

to

examine

many

crucial

issues

of

international

law. Foremost

amongst

these

were the

jurisdiction

of

the

ICJ,

the use

of

force,

customary

international

law,

General

Assembly Resolutions

as

a

source

of

law,

international

humanitarian

law and

international

environmental

law.

While

as

an

advisory

opinion

the

Court's

'judgment'

does

not

have

binding

force

it

does

however provide

some

guidance

on

questions

that

were

begging

for

an

answer.

The

purpose

of

this

article

is

threefold.

First,

I

will

discuss

the

opinion

in

so

far

as it

contributes

to

the

law

of

force

and

the

law

relating

to

international

humanitarian

law.

Secondly,

I

will

discuss

the

doctrine

of

nuclear

deterrence

in

the

light

of

recent developments

including

the

opinion.

This

section will

ultimately

attempt

to

evaluate

the

non-legal

question

of

the

threat

of

nuclear

deterrence

to

humanity.

1

Finally some

jurisprudential

issues

raised

by

the

opinion

will be

assessed

with

the

view

of

determining

the

contribution

law

can

make

in

these

areas.

Senior Sophister

Law

and

French Student,

Trinity

College,

Dublin.

Here

considerable

reliance

will

be placed

on

a

course taken

at

the

Universitd

Panth~on-

Assas

(Paris

II)

entitled

"International Relations"

given

by

M.

Serge

Sur

of

the

UN

Institute

of

Research

into

Disarmament.

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