INLAP/WCP Work

INLAP/World Court Project UK

Some of our Work

We argue that nuclear weapons in general are illegal. However, it is even more effective to consider the legality of a particular nuclear weapons system - Britain's fleet of nuclear-armed Trident submarines.

The next two links expand on the need for more information about the legality of Trident, based on letters to the Government by our supporters and Parliamentary questions.

The first shows how the World Court Opinion applies to Trident and lists the sort of questions we need answers to from the Government. You can read this here.

The exasperation of activists on Government refusal to come clean shows through in the second one, which outlines the UK Government's mistaken interpretation of the NPT. You can read this here.

The UK Government has decided in principle to replace and upgrade the Trident system - although the “Main Gate” decision has now been put off until after the next election. This has led to a great deal of analysis and questioning by World Court Project UK. In 2008 the Scottish government has set up a working group to look at "the various devolved powers that could be used to stop Trident's successor being brought to Scotland". World Court Project UK contributed to a submission for this. When the report was published in November 2009 the Project commented on its legal aspects, reproduced here . You can read our comments here 

A legal opinion by Rabinder Singh QC and Professor Christine Chinkin, Matrix Chambers, on The Maintenance and Possible Replacement of the Trident Nuclear Missile System, concluded that a replacement would constitute a breach of Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and would be a material breach of the treaty itself. This is available here 

The photograph shows three Trident Ploughshares members acquitted after disarming a nuclear weapons facility. Following is an account of direct action inspired by the law against nuclear weapons in the UK and overseas.

In April 2009 Trident Ploughshares, working with World Court Project UK, sent a letter to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, requesting immediate compliance with international law.
You can read this here as well as the Government Replies

Indeed anti nuclear civil resistance is the right of every citizen of this planet for the nuclear thereat, attacking as it does every core concept of human rights, calls for urgent and universal action for its prevention:

INLAP/World Court Project UK has provided a stream of briefing papers for supporters. This is just one example a - this time on the rather strange connection between nuclear weapons and the Duty of Care which a Ministry of Defence lawyer has promised to comment on. You can read this here 

We have always shared and developed our work with anti-nuclear and law and peace groups and individuals in the UK and overseas. World Court Project’s has linked values and the law with global nuclear disarmament in a very special way and the ICJ Opinion has also inspired groups like Trident Ploughshares and Abolition-minded friends in Europe to take action, sometimes in breathtakingly effective ways.

An example of the UK Government’s recklessly casual approach to the dangers of nuclear weapons is the way it consistently refuses to support the need to de-alert nuclear weapons. You can read the most recent developments here 