UN General Assembly
1996

would be justified by current law and demanded by the international community, the International Court of Justice recognized, in an Advisory Opinion of July this year, that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons run counter to international law. The Court also emphasized that “there exists an obligation on all States to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.” The General Assembly must give immediate effect to this by urging the initiation of negotiations on the subject in the Conference on Disarmament. While we welcome this ruling, we do not agree with another assertion of the Court within the Opinion that the threat or use of nuclear weapons could be legal in the extreme circumstance of self-defence. The Treaty of Tlatelolco, which Mexico promoted and for which it acts as depositary, was the first legal instrument specifically to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in a densely populated region. Mexico will continue to encourage the strengthening of the regime established