Mr. Speaker, the recent advisory opinion of the World Court on the legality of the use of nuclear weapons establishes a legal duty of states to negotiate in good faith toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and their use in armed conflict.
While some nuclear weapon states still argue that article 51 of the United Nations charter and the right to self-defence that it recognizes would permit a pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons in anticipation of an armed attack, the authoritative legal consensus that has now emerged establishes clearly a binding international law principle of no first use of nuclear weapons.