L'obbligo di disarmo nucleare quale obbligo a realizzazione porgressiva

This article suggests a new interpretation of the Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Scholars are traditionally split between those who interpret it as merely containing an obligation to negotiate – which is sometimes qualified ad a due diligence obligation – and those who conclude that it provides an obligation to conclude a treaty on nuclear disarmament, which is also conceived as an obligation of result. This picture reflects the traditional view concerning the nature of pacta de negotiando and de contrahendo. A view which is not satisfactory and should be revisited. In this Author’s opinion Article VI of the NPT provides an “obligation à réalisation progressive” – a category of obligations usually used to describe obligations stemming from human rights treaties on social, economic and cultural rights – and such a conclusion is not put in question by the recent adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.