National biological weapons law

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National biological weapons law
Angela Woodward Deputy Director The Verification
Research, Training and Information Centre
(VERTIC) New York, 11 April 2006
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OVERVIEW

• International law obligations to prohibit and
  prevent biological weapons
• 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
• UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004)
• Implementing these obligations through national
  measures
• Technical assistance
• Useful materials

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Obligations to prohibit and prevent biological
weapons

• 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
• Entered into force 26 March 1975
• 155 States Parties, 16 signatory states
• Bans the development, production, stockpiling or
  other acquisition or retention of biological and
  toxin weapons (Article I)
• Bans the use of biological and toxin weapons
  (reference to 1925 Geneva Protocol, confirmed at
  4th Review Conference in 1996)
• Requires the destruction or conversion of banned
  agents, toxins, weapons, equipment and means of
  delivery specified in Article I (Article II)
• Bans their transfer to any recipient whatsoever
  (Article III)
• Bans the assistance, encouragement or inducement
  to acquire (Article III)

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Obligations to prohibit and prevent biological
weapons (continued)

• 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
• National implementation obligations Article IV
• Each State Party to this Convention shall, in
  accordance with its constitutional processes,
  take any necessary measures to prohibit and
  prevent the development, production, stockpiling,
  acquisition, or retention of the agents, toxins,
  weapons, equipment and means of delivery
  specified in article I of the Convention within
  the territory of such a State, under its
  jurisdiction or under its control anywhere.

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Obligations to prohibit and prevent biological
weapons (continued)

• UN Security Council Resolution 1540
• Adopted 28 April 2004
• Provisions are binding on all states extends
  obligations to prohibit and prevent biological
  and toxin weapons to BWC non-states parties
• National implementation obligations
• OP 2 shall adopt and enforce appropriate
  effective laws to prohibit activities banned in
  OP 2
• OP 3 shall take and enforce effective measures
  to establish domestic controls relating to
  accounting and security, physical protection,
  border controls and law enforcement, export
  controls, and end-user controls (including
  criminal and civil penalties)
• OP 8 promulgation of national implementing
  legislation

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Implementing these obligations through national
measures
Penal legislation to Criminalize the
development, production, stockpiling,
acquisition, retention and transfer of agents,
toxins, weapons, equipment and means of delivery
systems described in Article I of the
BWC Criminalize biological and toxin weapons
use Criminalize the assistance, encouragement or
inducement of others to conduct these activities
Criminalize breaches of related legislation on
registration, licensing, physical protection and
export controls etc.
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Implementing these obligations through national
measures (continued)
Criminal procedural legislation to Ensure
appropriate authority for law enforcement
(investigations, sampling, chain of
custody) Ensure application to state and
non-state actors within the territory of the
state, under its jurisdiction or control
anywhere Ensure appropriate jurisdiction over
crimes for national courts
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Implementing these obligations through national
measures (continued)

• Registration and licensing measures for the
  physical protection of laboratories and
  facilities to prevent unauthorised access to and
  removal of pathogenic or toxic material
• Export control legislation. May provide for
  control lists of agents, toxins, weapons,
  equipment and means of delivery, which can be
  easily updated through subsidiary regulations
• May wish to seek guidance on control lists from
  Australia Group
• Measures to promulgate national biological
  weapons law
• For example by including information on the
  prohibition of biological and toxin weapons in
  textbooks and in medical, scientific and military
  educational programmes

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Technical assistance

• No international organisation is tasked with
  providing implementation assistance for
  obligations arising from the BWC or UNSCR 1540
• However
• The 1540 Committees Directory of Assistance
  (details of states and relevant regional and
  international organisations that can provide
  assistance)
• See http//disarmament2.un.org/Committee1540/
• The European Union is providing assistance
  pursuant to its Joint Action on the BTWC
• The Advisory Service on International
  Humanitarian Law of the International Committee
  of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides relevant
  legislative assistance
• Interpol provides assistance on law enforcement
  and related national measures

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Useful materials
ICRC/VERTIC, A Model Law The Biological and
Toxin Weapons Crimes Act Available at
www.vertic.org VERTIC, Biological Weapons
Convention Collection of national implementation
legislation Available at www.vertic.org ICRC
Fact Sheet 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of
Bacteriological Weapons and their
Destruction Available at www.icrc.org VERTIC,
Time to lay down the law national laws to
enforce the BWC (VERTIC, London, 2003) Available
at www.vertic.org
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Contact details
Angela Woodward Deputy Director VERTIC Development
House 56-64 Leonard Street London EC2A 4JX Tel
44 (0) 20 7065 0884 Email angela_at_vertic.org