International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

As a judge on the International Court of Justice, Judge Weeramantry wrote a lengthy dissent to the Court's Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons.

The Court found that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be generally illegal, but held open the possibility of legality in an extreme circumstance in which the very survival of a state was at stake.

In his dissent, Judge Weeramantry concluded that there was no instance in which the threat or use of nuclear weapons could be considered legal under international law. Judge Weeramantry's dissent in this case remains the most comprehensive and important legal opinion written on this critical issue.

Judge Weeramantry at the ICAN Launch, Parliament House Melbourne, April 2007. (photo: Adam Dempsey)

On April 12, 2008, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Peace Leadership to Judge Christopher Weeramantry of Sri Lanka.

Judge Weeramantry is a former Supreme Court Justice of Sri Lanka and former Vice President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He was also a professor of law at Monash University in Australia.

- Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

ICAN congratulates Judge Weeramantry who has been a significant ICAN supporter.