The Gazette 1986

sepTemBER 1986

GAZETTE

Correspondence

breaches the Non-Proliferation Treaty, violates fundamental human rights, presents an illegal threat of violent action and fits into an illegal system of armament. The book sets out the legal arguments, persuasive and comprehensive, to show that the arms race is not a matter of morality only; there are existing legal obligations which make it illegal, and neither persons or parliaments can make legal what is illegal under inter- national law. The legal profession has traditionally supported campaigns for a just society, for respect for human rights, for the protection of individual liberty and the application of the Rule of Law. In Ireland, we can support the initiative of our Netherlands colleagues by informing ourselves and others about the case of 'Ban the Cruise Missiles' Foundation and 20,000 Plaintiffs -v- the State of the Netherlands. What better way to do so than by sending for a copy? Yours sincerely, Muireann O Briain, B.L., 17 Charleville Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6. 1. P.O. Box 1043, 6501 BA Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Tel. 080-224441. 2. Irish U.N. Association, Roebuck House, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14.

The Editor, Law Society Gazette, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

13 October, 1986

Dear Editor,

The Case of 20,000 Plaintiffs against the State of the Netherlands.

A very interesting case has been taken in the Netherlands by 20,000 individuals, institutions and organisations against the State of the Netherlands. The Plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the deployment of cruise missiles is a wrong towards the Plaintiffs individually and collectively, and orders forbidding the State from proceeding with the deployment of such missiles. The Summons in which the Plaintiffs set out their case has been translated into English and published in book form by the 'Ban the Cruise Missiles' Foundation in Amsterdam. It is available from the Foundation 1 at a cost of £8.00 plus postage, or from the Irish U.N. Association. 2 The case is unique in legal history because of the number of Plaintiffs and because it seeks to prevent the occurrence of an international crime of vast proportion. The 'laws of war', both customary and conventional, have been traditionally elaborated in peace-time, but usually after some catastrophic clash of powers in which it has become clear that the existing laws are inadequate. When new tensions erupt into warfare again, the laws are ignored, or new weapons are devised which are not covered by the existing agreements. A new era dawned with the invention of nuclear weapons. Such weapons are not only indiscriminate, but can actually destroy entire civilisations. The very logical attitude of the Netherlands Plaintiffs is that prevention of the outbreak of a nuclear war is not only the best cure against the use of such weapons, it is now the only possible cure. As they state in the introduction to the Summons 'To expect that a debate in court about the admissibility of the use of cruise missiles will be of any consequence after they have been used is unrealistic, quite apart from the question whether there will be any court left'. The case has been prepared with a reassuring thoroughness by two Amsterdam barristers, A.H.J, van Biesen and Peter Ingelse. In the Summons they go into the historical background of the NATO decision- making process. They go on to show how plans for the use of nuclear weapons have become an integrated part of Western military strategy. They tell how cruise missiles work, how they are launched and what the consequences of their use, accidental or otherwise, would be. Then, having situated the weapon as a weapon of societal destruction, they go on to establish that not only does the use of such a weapon violate every rule for the conduct of warfare, but that even having such a weapon on the national territory is illegal under international law. Deployment, for example,

IRISH SOCIETY FOR LABOUR LAW

Annual Public Lecture

Speaker: Mr. Justice Niall McCarthy Topic:

"To do a great right, do a little wrong"

Venue:

The Ernest Walton Theatre Trinity College Arts Building

Date:

Monday, 24th November, 1986

Time:

7.30 p.m.

THIS LECTURE IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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