Entry into Force of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and International Legal Restrictions on its Use

   INTRODUCTION. The article analyzes the consequences of coming into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 2017. This Treaty forbids use of nuclear weapons and its deployment on territories of states, which ratified it.
   MATERIALS AND METHODS. The article is based on the main international treaties, which regulate now the status of nuclear weapons – Non-proliferation treaty 1968, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 2017 and also Advisory Opinion of UN International Court of Justice 1996.
   RESEARCH RESULTS. Coming into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons subdivided states into two groups – the states-participants of this Treaty and states-non participants. On the territory of states-participants the use of nuclear weapons is prohibited and must be considered as war crime. On the territory of states- non-participants use of nuclear weapons preserves the same regime as before. This regime was considered by UN International Court of Justice in his Advisory Opinion on Legality of Threat and Use of Nuclear Weapons 1996. The article analyzes this Advisory Opinion.
   DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. Author comes to a conclusion, that all the legal foundations upon which is based this Advisory Opinion remains intact and also his central clause, according to which it is not forbidden for a state to use nuclear weapons when its survival is at stake. This situation may occur when such a state would be in armed conflict with a state or group of states – members of a military-political organization, which had much stronger military and economic potential. Also use of nuclear weapons is not forbidden against all members of this military-political organization.

1. Adami I. M. [et al.]. Dogovor o zapreshchenii yadernogo oruzhiya: formirovanie novogo rezhima? [Treaty on prohibition of nuclear weapons: creation of a new regime?]. Ekaterinburg: Izd- vo Ural'skogo universiteta Publ. 2020. 180 p. (In Russ.)

2. Black-Branch J. L. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2021. 200 p. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108675307

3. Blishchenko I. P., Doria Zh. Pretsedenty v mezhdunarodnom publichnom i mezhdunarodnom chastnom prave [Precedents in the international public and private law]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo MNIMP Publ. 1999. 472 p. (In Russ.)

4. Casey-Maslen St. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: a commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2019. 269 p. URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons-9780198830368?cc=us&lang=en&

5. Corwin D. M. Legality of Nuclear Arms Under International Law. – Pennsylvania State International Law Review. 1987. Vol. 5. No. 2. P.271-290.

6. Cottrell M. P. The Evolution and Legitimacy of International Security Institutions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2016. 280 p. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316392799

7. Garvey J. I. To Fix the Nuclear Non-proliferation Regime—Avoid State Classification. – Florida Journal of International Law. 2009. Vol. 21. Issue. 3. P. 371-401.

8. Lysenko M. N. Dogovor, ispytannyi vremenem: k 50-letiyu Dogovora o nerasprostranenii yadernogo oruzhiya [Time-tested treaty (on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons)]. – Zakon i pravo. 2018. No. 8. P. 15-19. (In Russ.)

9. Lysenko M. N., Ostapova A. D. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: is there a better alternative?. – Moscow Journal of International Law. 2022. No.1. P. 52-64. URL: https://www.mjil.ru/jour/article/view/2676?locale=en_US

10. Maresca L., Mitchell E. The Human Costs and Legal Consequences of Nuclear Weapons Under International Humanitarian Law. – International Review of the Red Cross. 2015. No. 97 P. 621–645.

11. Mikhailenko E. B., Mikhailenko V. I. Podryvaet li Dogovor o zapreshchenii yadernogo oruzhiya rezhim nerasprostraneniya? [Does the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Undermine the Non-proliferation Regime?]. – Izvestiya Ural'skogo federal'nogo universiteta. Seriya 3: Obshchestvennye nauki. 2017. Vol. 12. No. 4 . P. 100-111. (In Russ.)

12. Muratshina K. G. Strany Yugo-Vostochnoi Aziya i Dogovor o zapreshchenii yadernogo oruzhiya [Southeast Asian Countries and the Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons]. – Yugo-Vostochnaya Aziya: aktual'nye problemy razvitiya. 2019. Vol. 1. No.1. P. 84-93. (In Russ.)

13. Muratshina K. G. Yaponiya i Dogovor o zapreshchenii yadernogo oruzhiya [Japan and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons]. – Yaponskie issledovaniya. 2019. No. 4. P. 6-23. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.24411/2500-2872-2019-10025

14. Muratshina K. G., Pashkova T. V. Kitaiskaya Narodnaya Respublika i Dogovor o zapreshchenii yadernogo oruzhiya [The People’s Republic of China and the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty]. – Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2019. No. 441. P. 160-168. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.17223/15617793/441/21

15. Nystuen G., Hugo T. G. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. – Nuclear Weapons under International Law. Ed. by G. Nystuen, S. Casey-Maslen and A. Bersagel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2014. P. 374-396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107337435.024

16. Nystuen, G., Egeland K., Hugo T. G. The TPNW: Setting the record straight. 2018. 40 p. URL: URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330258915_The_TPNW_Setting_the_record_straight (accessed 10. 07. 2022)

17. Osipov G. A. Mezhdunarodnyi rezhim nerasprostraneniya yadernogo oruzhiya [International regime of the non-proliferation of nuclear arms]. Moscow: Nauka Publ. 1987. 172 p. (In Russ.)

18. Philippe S, Zia M. The TPNW and nuclear disarmament verification: shifting the paradigm. – Verifying disarmament in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Ed. by P. Podvig. Geneva: UN Institute for disarmament research. 2022. P. 5-15.

19. Ritchie N. Constructing verification: power, politics and discourse. – Verifying disarmament in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Ed. by P. Podvig. Geneva: UN Institute for disarmament research. 2022. P. 16-33.

20. Sidorova E. A. Problemy ukrepleniya mezhdunarodno-pravogo rezhima nerasprostraneniya yadernogo oruzhiya [Problems of strengthening of international regime of the non-proliferation of nuclear arms]. – Mezhdunarodnoe pravo. 2009. Vol. 37. No. 1. P. 222-234. (In Russ.)

21. Thränert O. Would We Really Miss the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty?. – International Journal. 2008. Vol. 63. No. 2. P. 327-340.

22. Tuzmukhamedov B. R. Pravovaya skorlupa dlya bez"yadernoi illyuzii [A legal shell for a nuclear-free illusion]. – Rossiya v global'noi politike. 2021. No.2. P. 120-130. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.31278/1810-6439-2021-19-2-120-130

23. Ul'yanov M. I., Lysenko M. N. Dogovor o nerasprostranenii yadernogo oruzhiya – itogi, vyzovy, perspektivy [Treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear arms – results, challenges, perspectives]. – Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn'. 2018. No. 6. P. 1-13. (In Russ.)

24. Wellerstein A. Secrecy and verification in nuclear disarmament. – Verifying disarmament in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Ed. by P. Podvig. Geneva: UN Institute for disarmament research. 2022. P. 34-50.