Working Paper Submitted by Malaysia and Costa Rica

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Conference on Disarmament

General Assembly First Committee

UN Disarmament Commission

Special Session on Disarmament

Follow-up to the advisory opinion of
the International Court of Justice on the
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons

Working paper submitted by Malaysia and Costa Rica

The Sixth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,

Mindful of the solemn obligations of States parties, undertaken in article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament,

Recalling the commitment, made by the nuclear-weapon States at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to pursue systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons,

Recalling also the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, issued on 8 July 1996,

Underlining the unanimous conclusion of the International Court that there exists 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,

Recalling also General Assembly resolutions 51/45 M of 10 December 1996, 52/38 O of 9 December 1997, 53/77 W of 4 December 1998 and 54/54 Q of 1 December 1999, entitled "Follow-up to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons", in which the Assembly called for implementation of the aforementioned obligation by the immediate commencement of multilateral negotiations leading to the early conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention,

Concerned that those States that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities and have not acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, retain the nuclear-weapons option,

Affirms the requirement of States parties to fulfil their obligations under the Treaty and in accordance with the 1996 advisory opinion of the Court, and to that end:

1. The States Parties agree to commence multilateral negotiations leading to the conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention prohibiting the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons and providing for their elimination under strict and effective international control, and to invite those States that have not acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to join in such negotiations;

2. The States Parties agree to give consideration to the legal, technical and political elements required for a nuclear weapons convention or framework convention. Those elements may include:

(a) Non-discriminatory general obligations, applicable to States and non-State actors, prohibiting the acquisition, development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons;

(b) Interim control, protection and accounting of nuclear weapons and fissile material holdings;

(d) An international organization to coordinate verification, implementation and enforcement under strict and effective international control;

3. The States Parties agree to take appropriate interim steps, including unilateral measures and the achievement of other mutually reinforcing bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral instruments to remove the role of nuclear weapons from security doctrines and to further the reduction and elimination of nuclear arsenals.