Welcome to LCNP
Founded in 1981, the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy is a non-profit educational association of lawyers and scholars that engages in research and advocacy in support of the global elimination of nuclear weapons, and a more just and peaceful world through respect for domestic and international law. LCNP serves as the UN office of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).
Pictured below from left to right Phon van den Biesen, Peter Weiss and John Burroughs at the ICJ in 1995 in the landmark international case that led to the ICJ Advisory Opinion of 1996 on the legality of threat or use of nuclear weapons.
Essential Readings
Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, ICJ opinion, 1996
Model Nuclear Weapons Convention, 1997 (updated 2007)
Human Rights Versus Nuclear Weapons: New Dimensions, LCNP, January 2021
LCNP Senior Analyst Dr. John Burroughs and LCNP Board member Prof. Charles Moxley, March 3rd, 2025 at the (2nd Plenary Meeting) Third Meeting of the State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. “Panel on Mobilizing Efforts to Prevent a Nuclear War – International law and the Growing Global Consensus,”
Full link to the broadcast is here
Dr. Deepshikha Kumari Vijh, Executive Director, LCNP and Director, UN Office for IALANA presenting the civil society statement in September 2025 to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons at the High Plenary Week— 80th Session of the General Assembly.
Full link to the broadcast is here
Entrance to International Court of Justice, Peace Palace, November 1995
In Picture: 2nd from left, Mayumi Oda, Plutonium Free Future, whose art is displayed; 3rd from left, Robert Green, World Court Project UK; 5th from left, Peter Weiss (Co-founder and President Emeritus, LCNP) ; 6th from left, Kate Boanas-Dewes, World Court Project NZ.
Law, not force, must be the foundation of Security
Dr. Deepshikha Kumari Vijh presenting the statement on nuclear weapons and a joint appeal endorsed by over 1700 individuals and organizations across 98 countries presented to the United Nations First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), 2025.
Virtual conferences January 30, 2025
Nuclear Weapons and International Law 2025: Nuclear Risks through a Legal Lens
This was the third in a series of conferences on international law and nuclear weapons sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and co-sponsored by Fordham Law School, Center on National Security; U.S. Air Force Academy, Law, Technology and Warfare Research Cell; Georgetown Law School, Journal of International Law; University of Pennsylvania, Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law; American Bar Association, International Law Section; Catholic Peacebuilding Network; Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy; and Global Security Institute.
Agenda can be found here
Full Video Recording to the conference can be found here
PREVIOUS CONFERENCES
The first of the virtual conferences on this series was on November 12th, 2020 titled Nuclear Weapons and International Law. More information can be found here . The second conference was on November 8th, 2023 “Nuclear Weapons and International Law - The Renewed Imperative in Light of the Ukraine War” More information can be found here.
Video Recording with panel segments
Transcript with panel segments
