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The Trident and International Law: Scotland's Obligations, Conference Speeches, 3 February 2009

This conference on Trident and International Law was organised in Edinburgh by the Acronym Institute, Trident Ploughshares and the Peace and Justice Centre. Further speeches may be added as they become available.

Programme

Welcome: Mr Angus Robertson MP (Leader and Defence Spokesperson for SNP in Westminster)

Session I: The ICJ Opinion and national obligations
Chair: Dr Rebecca Johnson, Director, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and Member of the government's Working Group on Scotland without Nuclear Weapons,

KEYNOTE: H.E. Judge Christopher Weeramantry, Chair of the Weeramantry International Centre for Peace Education and Research and former Vice President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
"The meaning of the historic ICJ Advisory Opinion of July 8, 1996 and its implications for national obligations"

H.E. Judge Mohammed Bedjaoui, President of the ICJ, 1996 (unable to attend, paper circulated)

Dr John Burroughs, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, USA "New developments on the illegality of nuclear weapons"

Session II: Trident, the NPT and Scottish Law
Chair : Roseanna Cunningham MSP

Philippe Sands QC "Trident renewal, the NPT and international law" (snow prevented attendance, legal advice on Trident circulated)

Aidan O'Neill QC "Reviewing developments in Scottish law since the Decision of the High Court of Justiciary in the Lord Advocate's Reference on the 1999 nuclear weapons decision"

Session III : Law and civil society responsibilities to oppose nuclear weapons
Professor Nick Grief, University of Bournemouth and Doughty Street Chambers, London

Rabinder Singh QC and Prof Christine Chinkin (unable to attend, legal advice from 2005 circulated)

Angie Zelter, Trident Ploughshares

Janet Fenton, Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre

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