Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
and
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was adopted in 1968 and entered into force in 1970. Almost all countries are party to the NPT, but the non-parties include four nuclear-armed states, India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan. The NPT obligates non-nuclear weapon states not to acquire nuclear arms, subject to safeguards monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

It obligates five states acknowledged by the treaty to temporarily possess nuclear arms—US, UK, France, Russia, and China—to pursue good faith negotiations on cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and nuclear disarmament. It also proclaims an inalienable right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and promises assistance with developing such uses.

Lawyers Committee in Nuclear Policy over the decades has participated fully in five-year NPT review conferences and their preparatory meetings.  LCNP has made presentations to meetings and conferences, circulated papers, and advocated positions and policies for states to adopt in the review process and the wider world.

Fissile Material-Related Stresses on the Non-Proliferation Regime: The AUKUS Submarine Deal, Lack of Universality of the Additional Protocol, Weaknesses in Nuclear Materials Security, LCNP, July 26, 2023

Three Issues Confronting the Non-Proliferation/Disarmament Regime: Nuclear Threats, Security Assurances, and Nuclear Sharing, LCNP, July 25, 2023

Commentary on the Conclusion of the 10th NPT RevCon, LCNP, September 8, 2022

New Scientific Studies Underline Urgency of Nuclear Arms Control, Warn of Nuclear Famine, LCNP, 10th NPT Review Conference, August 15, 2022

New Saudi Reactors: Proliferation Concerns, LCNP, 10th NPT Review Conference, August 8, 2022

NGO Statement: Nuclear Threats and Nuclear Sharing Versus the Non-Proliferation Regime, Ariana Smith, August 5, 2022

Nuclear Threats & Nuclear Sharing Versus the Non-Proliferation Regime, Side Event to the 10th NPT Review Conference, August 4, 2022

Nuclear Threats and Nuclear Sharing Versus the Non-Proliferation Regime, LCNP, 10th NPT Review Conference, August 2, 2022

The Right to Life, the NPT, and Nuclear Arms Racing, Civil Society Presentation to NPT PrepCom, May 1, 2019

Nuclear Arms Racing is Antithetical to the NPT, IALANA, Civil Society Presentation to NPT PrepCom, Geneva, April 25, 2018

Defend the Unequivocal Undertaking to Eliminate Nuclear Arsenals, IALANA, NPT PrepCom, Vienna, May 3, 2017

Taking Nuclear Missiles Off Hair-Trigger Alert, LCNP President Guy Quinlan, May 2015

Nuclear Disarmament: The Road Ahead, International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms, April 2015

Civil Society Presentation to the NPT Review Conference on Article VI Compliance, LCNP/Western States Legal Foundation, May 2005

Thirteen Practical Steps: Legal or Political?, Peter Weiss, John Burroughs, Michael Spies, May 2005

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Rule of Law, March 2000

Roundtable Discussion on the 2000 NPT Review Conference, February 4, 2000

Making it Happen: Proposal for an Intersessional Working Group of the NPT, 2000

Two Legal Issues Confronting NATO and the Non-proliferation Regime: US Presidential Decision Directive 60 versus Pledges of Non-Use of Nuclear Weapon Made to Non-Nuclear Weapon States, NATO Nuclear Sharing versus the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, John Burroughs, May 1999

Multilateral Forums and Instruments for Nuclear Disarmament, May 11, 1999

Report on the 1999 Preparatory Committee Meeting for the 2000 NPT Review, 1999

Paths to Elimination: Qualitative Measures and Policies, 1999

1984 Revisited: Comments on Implementation of Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, LCNP, 1998

Negotiations were completed on the CTBT in 1996, fulfilling a commitment made at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference.

The CTBT has yet to enter into force, however. Eight of the states whose ratification is necessary for entry into force have yet to ratify: the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, Egypt, and North Korea. The CTBT prohibits nuclear explosive testing, subject to verification by an agency established by the treaty, the CTBT Organization, which is active on a provisional basis pending entry into force.

CTBT chapter in Rule of Power or Rule of Law?, pp. 41-57 (Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and LCNP, 2003)

“Nuclear Weapons Research and Development,” Jacqueline Cabasso, Section 2.3, Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security? (2007)

No Funding for Nuclear Testing Preparation, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability press release, June 25, 2020

“Absolutely Unacceptable: Resumed US Nuclear Explosive Testing,” in LCNP eNews, June 2020