by Julian Ku
During the recent “nuclear summit” in Washington, Dutch prime minister Peter Balkenende proposed the creation of a new international tribunal to enforce and punish violations of nuclear non-proliferation agreements. Putting aside the fact that this is a blatant effort to put another international court in his hometown (the Hague), I agree with Prof. Göran Sluiter that this is a dumb idea. It is a great example of how creating an international tribunal or an international institution is often a substitute for doing something useful or important on an important policy question. As Sluiter points out, we already have plenty of international courts.
Balkenende explicitly mentioned the reinforcement of the international rule of law as a basis for the creation of the new tribunal. In itself, this is an admirable goal. However, nations can already be held accountable in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has arbitrated international conflicts for almost a century and has long been a trusted advisor to the United Nations.