Workshop: Six Shades of Arms Trade Regulation: The Reform of the Italian Arms Export Law and Other National Regulatory Frameworks in Comparison

On October 7, 2024, the School of International Studies at the University of Trento will host a workshop on "Six Shades of Arms Trade Regulation: The Reform of the Italian Arms Export Law and Other National Regulatory Frameworks in Comparison." Details are here.

Lecture: Lewis on "Natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict: Exploring settled and open legal questions"

On July 11, 2024, Dustin A. Lewis (Harvard Univ. - Law) will deliver a lecture at the Asser Institute on "Natural and artificial intelligence in armed conflict: Exploring settled and open legal questions." Details are here.

Kiel: Arms Transfers to Non-State Actors: The Erosion of Norms in International Law

Hannah Kiel has published Arms Transfers to Non-State Actors: The Erosion of Norms in International Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2024). This is the latest volume in the Elgar International Law Series. Here's the abstract:

This insightful book analyses the issue of norm erosion in international law by examining arms transfers to non-state actors. Balancing empirical research with legal theory, the author dissects recent case studies, tracing individual changes in norms against a background of systemic transformation.

Arms Transfers to Non-State Actors follows changes in the prohibition of arms transfers to non-state actors since the pivotal International Court of Justice''s Nicaragua ruling in 1986. Hannah Kiel critically discusses the legal developments through relevant case studies, including Abkhazia, Bosnia, Congo, Eastern Ukraine, Kosovo, Libya, Northern Iraq, South Ossetia, Syria and Yemen. Adopting a customary law perspective while also placing the narratives of states in the context of international structural changes, Kiel emphasises the interplay between state practice and the strengthening of a human rights-based paradigm. Kiel ultimately shows that changes in norms at the individual level indicate a larger transformation in the international order, and while the arming of non-state actors remains formally illegal, the prohibition of this practice is informally eroding.

Call for Submissions: The Biological Weapons Convention at 50: Perspectives on the Past, Present and Future

The Department of Public Law and Public International Law of the Justus Liebig University in the context of CBWNet is accepting paper proposals for an edited volume to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention. The edited volume - provisionally titled "The Biological Weapons Convention at 50: Perspectives on the Past, Present and Future" - will examine selected issues pertaining to the past, present, and future of the Biological Weapons Convention. The call is here.

Conference: Chemical and Biological Weapons: The Interconnectivity of Norms

On October 23-24, 2023, the Faculty of Law of the Justus-Liebig University Gieβen will host a conference on "Chemical and Biological Weapons: The Interconnectivity of Norms." Details are here.

Call for Papers: Chemical and Biological Weapons: The Interconnectivity of Norms

The Justus-Liebig University Gieβen in collaboration with CBWNet have issued a call for papers for a conference on "Chemical and Biological Weapons: The Interconnectivity of Norms," to take place October 23-24, 2023, in Gieβen. The call is here.

Joyner: Disarmament is Good, but What We Need Now is Arms Control

Daniel Joyner (Univ. of Alabama - Law) has posted Disarmament is Good, but What We Need Now is Arms Control (Indonesian Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 10, no. 1, 2023). Here's the abstract:

This article aims to correct a number of misconceptions held by both scholars and activists about the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and international nuclear weapons law generally. It first reviews the development of international law related to nuclear weapons, and provides a novel taxonomy of legal obligations divided into three substantive categories. It then examines the TPNW within that taxonomy, and considers how it should be understood to fit within this legal context. It concludes that the TPNW is essentially a nuclear disarmament treaty. While it should be welcomed as a contribution to nuclear disarmament law, it should not be confused with nuclear arms control treaties, which are distinct in role and purpose. The article concludes that at the current moment of crisis in nuclear arms control law, a refocusing of attention is needed to conclude a successor treaty to New START, which is due to expire in 2026.

Myjer & Marauhn: Research Handbook on International Arms Control Law

Eric P.J. Myjer (Utrecht Univ. - Law) & Thilo Marauhn (Justus Liebig Univ. Giessen - Law); Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) have published Research Handbook on International Arms Control Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2022). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This Research Handbook provides a broad yet detailed treatment of international arms control law. It takes stock of existing arms control agreements, addresses current challenges and aims to indicate avenues for the future development of this distinct branch of public international law.

Split across nine thematic parts, this comprehensive Handbook goes beyond the pure encyclopaedic approach by providing analytical and doctrinal guidance. Chapters provide extensive analysis of international arms control law, addressing both conventional weapons and new technologies, contextualising arms control law and politics through identifying actors, forums and regulatory approaches. The impressive list of contributors also explore geographical zones of arms control including Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Call for Papers: Arms Trade and the Law

A call for papers has been issued for an online workshop on "Arms Trade and the Law." The call is here.

Herbach: International Arms Control Law and the Prevention of Nuclear Terrorism

Jonathan Herbach (International Atomic Energy Agency) has published International Arms Control Law and the Prevention of Nuclear Terrorism (Edward Elgar Publishing 2021). Here's the abstract:

Making a timely contribution to the legal literature, this important book discusses an under-analysed issue of great importance to international peace and security. It provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the prevention of nuclear terrorism specifically through an international (arms control) law lens.

Jonathan Herbach sets out a basis for better understanding how the international legal framework for nuclear security is structured and why it is structured that way, and offers a critical analysis of the component instruments that make up the framework. He highlights the strengths and analyzes possible gaps and weaknesses of these instruments and the legal framework as a whole, as well as explaining the framework’s key characteristics, approaches and rationale. As nuclear security is by no means a static topic, with changing circumstances a defining feature of the area, the book also offers ideas for the path forward and conceptualizes ways to further strengthen the nuclear security legal framework.

Hoffberger-Pippan: Less-Lethal Weapons under International Law: A Three-Dimensional Perspective

Elisabeth Hoffberger-Pippan (German Institute for International and Security Affairs) has published Less-Lethal Weapons under International Law: A Three-Dimensional Perspective (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

Hitherto 'less-lethal' weapons, in contrast to classical firearms and other highly destructive weapons, have literally slipped under the radar of public international law. This book is the first monograph addressing and analysing all international legal regimes applicable to less-lethal weapons, ranging from arms control treaties, international humanitarian, criminal and human rights law. In doing so the different scenarios in which less-lethal weapons come to use will be taken into account, such as law enforcement, armed conflict and law enforcement scenarios during armed conflict. The relationships between the different legal regimes will be elaborated thoroughly with a view to examining how international law responds to less-lethal weapons. The final chapter provides guidelines as well as recommendations on appropriate use and regulation of less-lethal weapons, where the different scenarios of application, such as in armed conflict and law enforcement, will be given due account.

Maia & Collin: Nuclear Weapons and International Law: Visions of a Plural World

Catherine Maia (Universidade Lusófona do Porto - Law) & Jean-Marie Collin (GRIP – Groupe de recherche et d’information sur la paix et la sécurité) have published Nuclear Weapons and International Law: Visions of a Plural World (Edições Universitárias Lusófonas 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

In a world affected by the Covid-19 global pandemic, where more financial resources would be needed for medicines instead of weapons, all nuclear States – whether parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or not, whether democratic or authoritarian regimes – keep modernising their nuclear arsenal. Despite this attitude, which highlights the crisis of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, since the launch of the “Humanitarian Initiative” in 2010, nuclear disarmament has been at the centre of the action of an increasing number of countries, with the strong support of NGOs. This phenomenon gave unprecedented visibility and significance to the topic, and allowed the entry into force in 2021 of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, in order to achieve their total elimination. These recent developments show that there are hopes and challenges in a pluralistic world where nuclear and non-nuclear weapons States continue to confront each other in this highly sensitive area. It is against this background that readers are offered a set of different perspectives on these weapons of mass destruction, authored by a multidisciplinary team of contributors from a wide array of geographical areas.

Black-Branch: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Legal Challenges for Military Doctrines and Deterrence Policies

Jonathan L. Black-Branch (ISLAND – Foundation of International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament) has published The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: Legal Challenges for Military Doctrines and Deterrence Policies (Cambridge Univ. Press 2021). Here's the abstract:

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017) sets out to challenge deterrence policies and military defence doctrines, taking a humanitarian approach intended to disrupt the nuclear status quo. States with nuclear weapons oppose its very existence, neither participating in its development nor adopting its final text. Civil society groups seem determined, however, to stigmatize and delegitimize nuclear weapons towards their abolition. This book analyzes how the Treaty influences the international security architecture, examining legal, institutional and diplomatic implications of the Treaty and exploring its real and potential impact for both states acceding to the Treaty and those opposing it. It concludes with practical recommendations for international lawyers and policymakers regarding non-proliferation and disarmament matters, ultimately noting that nuclear weapons threaten peace, and everyone should have the right to nuclear peace and freedom from nuclear fear.

AJIL Unbound Symposium: New Challenges in Weapons Inspection

AJIL Unbound has posted a symposium on "New Challenges in Weapons Inspection." The symposium includes an introduction by Jean Galbraith and contributions by David A. Koplow, Åke Sellström, Jennie Gromoll, Mallory Stewart, and Przemysław Roguski.

Lustgarten: Law and the Arms Trade: Weapons, Blood and Rules

Laurence Lustgarten has published Law and the Arms Trade: Weapons, Blood and Rules (Hart Publishing 2020). Here's the abstract:

This ground-breaking book offers an extensive legal analysis-grounded in public, EU, and international law-of arms trade regulation, integrated with insights drawn from international relations.

The sale of weapons and related technologies is, globally, one of the most politically controversial and ethically contentious forms of commerce. Intimately connected with sustaining repressive governments and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, arms exports are also a central element in the economic and strategic policies of the governments of all large industrial states. They have also been the source of abundant corruption, and of serious challenges to the norms and effectiveness of constitutional accountability in democratic states. On paper, the arms trade is heavily regulated: national legislation and international treaties are in place which purport to prohibit certain transactions and limit others. Yet despite its importance, legal and international relations scholarship on the subject has been surprisingly limited.

This book fills this gap in the literature by examining and comparing the export control regimes of eight leading nations - USA, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, China, and India - with chapters contributed by leading experts in the field of law and international relations.

Joyner: Strategic Trade Controls

Daniel Joyner (Univ. of Alabama - Law) has posted Strategic Trade Controls (in Research Handbook on Arms Control Law, Thilo Marauhn & Eric Myjer eds., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The establishment and maintenance of an effective strategic trade control (STC) system is an often overlooked and undervalued element in the broader context of international WMD nonproliferation law. However its importance at the practical level in the effort to regulate the spread and use of goods and technologies that can contribute to WMD programs around the world has always been significant. The implementation of effective national STC legal regimes has never been perfect or universal. But where implemented effectively, strategic trade controls materially contribute to international aims of keeping WMD sensitive goods and technologies out of the hands of dangerous actors. In this chapter I will first review the international legal basis for STCs, which is to be found in the three primary international treaties applying to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons proliferation, as well as in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540. In doing so I will also briefly review the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group, and the Missile Technology Control Regime, which operate as fora for coordination of national technology control lists and trade control policies. I will then focus on the implementation of STC legal systems at the national level by identifying and discussing common elements of effective STC systems. Finally, I will review some common challenges to implementing national STC systems, and discuss current developments relative to national and international STC regulation.

Casey-Maslen: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: A Commentary

Stuart Casey-Maslen (Univ. of Pretoria - Law) has published The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: A Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2019). Here's the abstract:

This Commentary offers detailed background and analysis of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted at the UN Headquarters in New York in July 2017. The Treaty comprehensively prohibits the use, development, export, and possession of nuclear weapons. Stuart Casey-Maslen, a leading expert in the field who served as legal adviser to the Austrian Delegation during the negotiations of this Treaty, works through article by article, describing how each provision was negotiated and what it implies for states that join the Treaty. As the Treaty provisions cut across various branches of international law, the Commentary goes beyond a discussion of disarmament to consider the law of armed conflict, human rights, and the law on inter-state use of force. The Commentary examines the relationship with other treaties addressing nuclear weapons, in particular the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Background on the development and possession of nuclear weapons and theories of nuclear deterrence is provided. Particular attention is paid to controversial issues such as assistance for prohibited activities, the meaning of 'threaten to use', and the definition of nuclear explosive devices. Casey-Maslen also considers whether a member of NATO or other nuclear alliance can lawfully become a state party to the Treaty.

Kierulf: Disarmament under International Law

John Kierulf (formerly, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark) has published Disarmament under International Law (McGill-Queen's Univ. Press 2017). Here's the abstract:

Russia’s annexation of Crimea and involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine has in many respects set back post-Cold War improved relations between Russia, the United States, and Europe. The continued war in Syria threatens the security and stability of many countries in the Middle East and attacks by ISIS and other terrorist organizations are causing increased fear and instability in Iraq and in neighbouring countries. In many areas negotiations on disarmament and arms control are at a standstill.

In Disarmament under International Law, John Kierulf examines and discusses how disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation of both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction are regulated in existing treaties and conventions. From his perspective as a former disarmament negotiator, Kierulf explains the United Nations’ disarmament machinery and procedures, and describes the UN’s essential role in promoting disarmament. Underlining the continued and serious threat posed by nuclear weapons, Kierulf appeals for increased and effective international efforts to reduce their number and ultimately eliminate them.

Hayashi: The U.S. Airstrike After the Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria: National Interest, Humanitarian Intervention, or Enforcement Against War Crimes?

Mika Hayashi (Kobe Univ. - Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies) has posted an ASIL Insight on The U.S. Airstrike After the Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria: National Interest, Humanitarian Intervention, or Enforcement Against War Crimes?

Clapham, Casey-Maslen, Giacca, & Parker: The Arms Trade Treaty: A Commentary

Andrew Clapham (Graduate Institute of International and Developmental Studies), Stuart Casey-Maslen (Univ. of Pretoria), Gilles Giacca (International Committee of the Red Cross), & Sarah Parker (Small Arms Survey) have published The Arms Trade Treaty: A Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2016). Here's the abstract:

The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty became binding international law in late 2014, and although the text of the treaty is a relatively concise framework for assessing whether to authorize or deny proposed conventional weapons transfers by States Parties, there exists controversy as to the meaning of certain key provisions. Furthermore, the treaty requires a national regulatory body to authorize proposed transfers of conventional weapons covered by the treaty, but does not detail how such a body should be established and how it should effectively function. The Arms Trade Treaty: A Commentary explains in detail each of the treaty provisions, the parameters for prohibitions or the denial of transfers, international cooperation and assistance, and implementation obligations and mechanisms. As states ratify and implement the Treaty over the next few years, the commentary provides invaluable guidance to government officials, commentators, and scholars on the meaning of its contentious provisions. This volume describes in detail which weapons are covered by the treaty and explains the different forms of transfer that the Arms Trade Treaty regulates. It covers international human rights, trade, disarmament, humanitarian law, criminal law, and state-to-state use of force, as well as the application of the treaty to non-state actors.