We have obtained an independent, authoritative legal opinion from a top international lawyer indicating that replacing or renewing Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system is inconsistent with international law, putting Tony Blair at risk of breaking the same international disarmament treaty that he says Iran must respect.
The legal opinion, from Philippe Sands QC, shows that the renewal, replacement, upgrading and sub-strategic use of Trident are inconsistent with Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the UN Charter and international humanitarian law. Click here to download a copy of the briefing (Adobe PDF format).
The opinion draws on the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of nuclear weapons, made 10 years ago this year, the NPT and public statements by the UK government on the use and justification of its nuclear weapons.
It considers three main issues:
- the legality of renewing, replacing or upgrading the Trident system
- the legality of the UK's strategy on the use of nuclear weapons
- the compatibility of the use of Trident with international humanitarian law
The opinion concludes that serious concerns over legality exist in all three areas. There are several key areas where the Government may be in breach of international law:
- renewal, replacement or upgrading of Trident is likely to breach Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
- attempts to justify Trident upgrade or replacement as an insurance against unascertainable future threats is incompatible with NPT Article VI.
- the UK's stated willingness to use nuclear weapons to protect 'vital interests' against non-nuclear states which appears to be outside the doctrine of self-defence as recognised under international law. The use of nuclear weapons to protect such interests is likely to be disproportionate and therefore unlawful under the UN Charter.
- use of Trident is likely to breach international humanitarian law through its indiscriminate and uncontrollable effects.
- the Government has broadened its deterrence policy to include non-nuclear states who are believed to possess chemical or biological weapons. Use of this policy to justify any renewal, replacement or upgrade of Trident may be in breach of the UK's obligations under NPT Article VI.
Article VI of the NPT states that: 'Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes 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, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.'
The NPT lies at the heart of the international disarmament regime that has successfully halved the global nuclear weapons stockpile and helped to ensure that the majority of the world is nuclear-free today. At its core is a bargain between nuclear and non-nuclear states, whereby the non-nuclear states agree not to acquire nuclear weapons and in exchange the nuclear states commit to disarm. But this international agreement is being taken to breaking point by the nuclear powers, as Hans Blix stated in his recent UN WMD Commission report,
"It is easy to see that the nuclear-weapon states parties to the NPT have largely failed to implement this commitment [to disarm] and failed to 'pursue negotiations in good faith' on nuclear disarmament as required of them under the NPT. Indeed, all states that have nuclear weapons are still seeking to modernize their nuclear capabilities and having unilaterally decided long ago to enter the nuclear club, all nuclear-weapon states must now recognize that it is their duty to exit."
The UK, by illegally breaching the NPT and international law, and continuing to develop new weapons, provides a powerful incentive for non-nuclear countries to acquire similar weapons technology. Recent developments in North Korea and Iran show that many states feel that they can only avoid being bullied by the nuclear powers if they possess nuclear capability themselves.
Tony Blair's approach to the NPT is completely inconsistent: on the one hand setting plans in motion for a new generation of nukes which illegally breach the NPT; on the other, taking the lead in urging action against other non-nuclear countries whom he believes are breaching the treaty by trying to acquire similar weapons.
We believe that Blair's flagrant disregard for both international law and the enforcement of the NPT acts as an incitement to non-nuclear powers to breach the treaty. By failing to honour its own commitments under the treaty the UK is threatening the non-proliferation regime.
The Government is due to make its decision about the future of Trident in a White Paper due to be published before Christmas. Philippe Sands' legal opinion, showing that the UK cannot replace Trident without breaching both the NPT and international humanitarian law, has been sent to the Prime Minister and the Attorney General (the cabinet's senior legal advisor on matters of international law). We are challenging Tony Blair to take account of the Sands opinion by placing the UK's responsibilities under international law at the centre of the promised public and parliamentary debate on Trident replacement, a decision which will have enormous international legal and security repercussions.
If the Government is serious about global security, it should not replace or upgrade Trident but instead take steps to meet the UK's international legal obligations to reduce and eventually eliminate its nuclear weapons. We are urging them to follow this path by:
- abandoning all plans to develop a new nuclear weapon
- taking Trident off patrol and storing the warheads in an internationally monitored UK site
- using these first two steps as confidence-building measures, to strengthen the UK's integrity by upholding international law and then to take the lead in kickstarting the international disarmament negotiations enshrined within the NPT.
These are pragmatic, multilateral steps which are consistent with international law and will allow us to focus on the major security threat Britain faces today - climate change.
