The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a legally binding global ban on nuclear explosive testing and the final step in the vision enunciated by President John F. Kennedy fifty years ago. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was opened for signature in 1996. On 6 February, Indonesia became the 157th country to ratify the CTBT after submitting official documents to the UN Secretary-General in New York. Now that Indonesia`s ratification has been completed, thirty-six Annex 2 States have ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Currently, eight Annex 2 states must ratify the treaty for the treaty to become legally binding. Whatever its value, the IMS`s provisional position in the absence of a binding treaty raises important legal questions. As Masahiko Asada, professor of international law at Kyoto University, noted, “This is a truly unique situation from a legal perspective. Both the construction of the IMS network and its interim operation were carried out without the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. So what is the legal basis for these developments? 5 For years, it has been assumed that Article IV of the CTBT provided for the authority to establish the IMS in the absence of a legally binding treaty, specifying that “[t]he verification system may meet the verification requirements of the CTBT upon the entry into force of this Treaty.” Another concern, less visible but just as important, concerns less the entry into force of the Treaty than the sustainability of the current organisation and the control system it has put in place. With the delay in the entry into force of the Treaty, crucial questions arise.
How long will the international community support the work of an organization operating in the absence of a legally binding treaty? How long will Member States devote resources to a control system that, at best, will continue to operate provisionally for the foreseeable future? How long will IMS be able to attract world-class scientific and technical talent? 8. “Statement by the Executive Secretary, Mr. Tibor Tóth, on the occasion of the Scientific Colloquium”, 31 August 2006, www.ctbto.org/fileadmin/content/reference/symposiums/2006/0831tothspeech.pdf. 11. Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), “Advancing Verification Capabilities: Annual Report 2019”, September 2020, p. 12, www.ctbto.org/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/Annual_Report_2019/English/00-CTBTO_AR_2019_EN.pdf. Das Inkrafttreten des umfassenden Teststopps (CTBT) würde ein rechtsverbindliches Verbot nuklearer Sprengstofftests für alle Vertragsparteien schaffen. Der CTBT wird: 3. Rizwan Asghar, “The Future of the CTBT”, CTBTO Spectrum, Nr. 22 (August 2014), S. 17, www.ctbto.org/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/Spectrum/2014/Spectrum_22_web.pdf. 12.
John Carlson, “Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Possible Measures to Bring into Force the Treaty`s Provisions and Strengthen the Nuclear Test Standard,” VCDNP, März 2019, vcdnp.org/ctbt-possible-measures-to-bring-the-provisions-of-the-treaty-into-force-strengthen-the-norm-against-nuclear-testing/ Exekutivsekretär: Robert Floyd Vorbereitungskommission für das vorläufige technische Sekretariat der CTBTO Raum E-0750 Vienna International Center P. O. Box 1200, A-1400 Vienna Austria Tel.: (431) 26030 6200 FAX: (431) 26030 5877 Website: www.ctbto.org The need to adopt a variety of technologies stems from the treaty`s broad mandate to ban all nuclear explosions by everyone, anywhere and in any environment – underground, underwater and in the atmosphere. Most contracts are not as comprehensive. On 30 October 2009, 175 States voted in favour of the CTBT resolution at the 64th session of the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. Only one country voted against the resolution (North Korea) and three abstained (India, Syria, Mauritius). The support for the treaty by almost all States is an example of the near-universal support for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was introduced by the original sponsors, Australia, Mexico and New Zealand, and supported by 74 other States, including, for the first time ever, the five permanent members of the Security Council: China, the United States, France, Russia and Great Britain. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation, so it is imperative that countries are more economical with their own investments.
As a result, negotiations on funding for the repair and maintenance of operating stations become more difficult and compromises more difficult. In the recent CTBT report, Mr. Zerbo encouraged CTBTO member States to “take a holistic approach to building and maintaining IMS`s complex global network. This is achieved by testing, evaluating and maintaining what exists, and then improving it further. Maintenance includes maintenance through necessary preventative maintenance, repairs, replacements, upgrades and continuous improvements to ensure the technological relevance of monitoring functions. 11 1. Sergio Duarte, “The Future of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty,” UN Chronicle, n.d., www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/future-comprehensive-nuclear-test-ban-treaty. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) itself contains a three-part protocol: Part One, which describes in detail the International Monitoring System (ISS); Part II on On-Site Inspections (OSI); and the third part on confidence-building measures.
There are also two annexes to the Protocol: Annex 1, which lists the location of the various means of monitoring the Treaty related to IMS; and Appendix 2 detailing the parameters of screening events. 20. Angola became the 164th country to ratify the CTBT. It signed the contract on 27 September 1996. The movement for the international control of nuclear weapons began in 1945 with a call by Canada and the United Kingdom for a conference on the subject. [1] In June 1946, Bernard Baruch, emissary of President Harry S. Truman, proposed the Baruch Plan to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, which called for an international system for controlling atomic energy production. The plan, which was to serve as the basis for U.S. nuclear policy until the 1950s, was rejected by the Soviet Union as an American ploy to cement its nuclear dominance. [2] [3] In September, representatives from 85 countries gathered to attend the Conference to Facilitate the Entry into Force of the CTBT, commonly known as the Article XIV Conference, held during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The conference presented a final document reaffirming the importance of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty as “one of the most important pillars of the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture” and urging signatories to “spare no effort” to promote signature and ratification by States of the outstanding Annex 2.
Although 92% complete, the system operates on a temporary basis. This means that data from IMS operating stations is transmitted via a satellite communication network to CTBTO headquarters in Vienna. There, the data is analyzed and reviewed by analysts from the CTBTO`s International Data Centre. Their results will be returned to the signatory States. Due to the provisional nature of the system, Member States transmit the raw data on a voluntary basis. If data analysis reveals suspicious activity, Members will not be able to use contractual monitoring mechanisms such as consultations, clarifications and requests for on-site inspections.