The World Court Project: Are Nuclear Weapons Illegal?
by Scott W. Robarts A number of weapons, ranging from bayonets with serrated edges to chemical and bacteriological weapons, have been made illegal to use through international treaties and conventions. But what about the most dangerous and devastating weapon of all, the nuclear weapon? The World Court Project is an international initiative to obtain an opinion from the International Court of Justice (otherwise known as the World Court) on the legality of nuclear weapons. Under international law it is illegal to use or employ weapons or tactics that cause “unnecessary or aggravated devastation or suffering,” “widespread, long term, and severe damage to the natural environment,” and “do not discriminate between attacks on civilian and military targets.” Based on these principles, the use of nuclear weapons should be illegal. But this is not so, and that is what makes the World Court Project so important. The World Court Project will set a precedent by having a recognized judicial body de
