Beyond the Ban: a Global Agenda for Nuclear Justice

Abstract

The issue of nuclear justice has recently gained prominence in international debates about nuclear weapons. In this report, Jana Baldus, Caroline Fehl and Sascha Hach present a systematic review of the global progress in achieving nuclear justice as well as persisting shortcomings. The authors propose an analytical framework distinguishing four different dimensions: (1) criminal liability (2) redress for victims (3) truth-telling and apologies and (4) legal reforms to ensure non-recurrence. The report applies the framework to analyze efforts to deal with the legacy of the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, responses to the suffering caused by nuclear testing, as well as past and ongoing legal and political reforms that would influence assessments of the legality and legitimacy of future nuclear uses and tests and/or that have been put in place specifically to prevent the recurrence of nuclear uses and tests. Furthermore, this report provides policy recommendations for both state and non-state actors to advance the nuclear justice agenda.