Extending the Application of the ICJ's July 8, 1996, Advisory Opinion to Environment-Altering Weapons in General: What Is the Role of International Environmental Law in Warfare

摘要

Hailed as 'the most important opinion by a court in the history of the world,' the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its July 8, 1996 Advisory Opinion, (Advisory Opinion) 'ruled that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is subject to the rules of international law applicable to armed conflict and to the rules of humanitarian law, which nuclear weapons cannot satisfy.' In drafting the Advisory Opinion, the ICJ focused on a variety of issues, including an unprecedented consideration of environmental provisions and treaties. Under the ICJ's Advisory Opinion, because nuclear weapons do not specifically limit their effects to a targeted enemy, but instead affect the world indiscriminately, nation-states implementing those weapons must consider carefully consider their use. That consideration should not be limited to nuclear weapons, but should also apply to any weapons systems designed to influence one's enemy by changing the environment of their homeland or of the surrounding battlefield. These systems, termed 'environment-altering weapons,' included nuclear and biological weapons, or any weapons system that causes 'environmental modification.'.