Nuclear Claims Tribunal

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Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal is an international arbitral tribunal established pursuant to the Agreement Between the Government of the United States and the Government of the Marshall Islands for the Implementation of Section 177 of the Compact of Free Association (also known as 177 Agreement). The Claims Tribunal has the "jurisdiction to render final determination upon all claims past, present and future, of the Government, citizens and nationals of the Marshall Islands which are based on, arise out of, or are in any way related to the [American] Nuclear Testing Program." [1]

Arbitral tribunal a panel of adjudicators to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration

An arbitral tribunal is a panel of one or more adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may consist of a sole arbitrator, or there may be two or more arbitrators, which might include either a chairman or an umpire. Members selected to serve on the tribunal are typically professionals with expertise in law and mediation, although some scholars have suggested that the ideal composition of an arbitral tribunal should include at least one economist, particularly in cases that involve questions of asset or damages valuation.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Marshall Islands country in Oceania

The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country and a United States associated state near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The country's population of 53,158 people is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The capital and largest city is Majuro.

Contents

It was established in 1988. [note 1] It has effectively ceased functioning around 2011, having run out of funds a few years earlier, with the United States government, which originally funded it, declining to provide it with additional resources. [4] [5]

Background

The Wilson cloud from test Baker, situated just offshore from Bikini Island at top of the picture. Crossroads baker explosion.jpg
The Wilson cloud from test Baker, situated just offshore from Bikini Island at top of the picture.

From June 30, 1946, to August 18, 1958, the United States detonated sixty-seven nuclear bombs with a total yield of 109 megatons of TNT (460  PJ ) on the Bikini and Enewet atolls of the Marshall Islands, resulting in significant damage to the atolls and nearby areas. From 1981, several cases were brought by Marshall Island inhabitants in front of the United States Court of Claims. Following the signing of the Compact of Free Association between the US and MI governments, the Republic of the Marshall Island (RMI) agreed to "espouse and dismiss" the private damages claims of its citizens that were in front of the US Court of Claims in exchange for the US government establishment of a $150 million trust fund which was to be used to compensate the affected Marshallese citizens. [2]

TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The "ton of TNT" is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be 4.184 gigajoules, which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a metric ton of TNT. In other words, for each gram of TNT exploded, 4,184 joules of energy are released.

The joule is a derived unit of energy in the International System of Units. It is equal to the energy transferred to an object when a force of one newton acts on that object in the direction of its motion through a distance of one metre. It is also the energy dissipated as heat when an electric current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second. It is named after the English physicist James Prescott Joule (1818–1889).

The Court of Claims was a federal court that heard claims against the United States government. It was established in 1855, renamed in 1948 to the United States Court of Claims, and abolished in 1982. Then, its jurisdiction was assumed by the newly created United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and United States Claims Court, which was later renamed the Court of Federal Claims.

Composition

The Tribunal consists of three members, a Chairman and two other members, all appointed by the RMI government. The Tribunal has several officers, including a Public Advocate, a Defender of the Fund, a Financial Officer, and a Clerk, nominated by the Chairman and appointed by the Tribunal. [2]

Activities

Aerial view of the Runit Dome in the Enewetak Atoll. The dome is placed in the crater created by the "Cactus" nuclear weapons test in 1958. Runit Dome 001.jpg
Aerial view of the Runit Dome in the Enewetak Atoll. The dome is placed in the crater created by the "Cactus" nuclear weapons test in 1958.

History

To process those claims, an independent Nuclear Claims Tribunal was established in the Marshalls Islands following the passage of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal Act in 1987 by the Marshall Islands legislature; the tribunal became active in 1988, with the appointment of its first Chairman, Bruce Piggott of Australia. [2] The first years of the tribunal were "marked by controversy, tension and periodic inactivity as members of the Nitijela quarreled with the first Members of the Tribunal about how the Tribunal should conduct its business". [2]

Major cases the tribunal heard include five class-action claims: the Enewetak Class Action (1990–2000, over $300 million awarded); Utirik and Rongelap (both started in 1991, awarded over $300 million in 2006 and over $1 billion 2006 respectively); [6] [7] and Bikini (1993–2001, over $563 million awarded). [2] The fifth class-action claim filed on behalf of the Ailuk Atoll was opened in the mid-2000s as well. [7] The tribunal also awarded personal injury awards of over $90m as of 2006. [8]

Utirik Atoll atoll

Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only 2.4 square kilometres (0.94 sq mi), but it encloses a lagoon with an area of 57.7 square kilometres (22.29 sq mi). It is located approximately 47 kilometres (29 mi) east of Ujae Atoll. The population of Utirik Atoll is 435 as of 2011. it is one of the northernmost Marshall Islands with permanent habitation.

Rongelap Atoll atoll

Rongelap AtollRONG-gə-lap is a coral atoll of 61 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 8 square miles (21 km2). It encloses a lagoon with an area of 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2). It is historically notable for its close proximity to US hydrogen bomb tests in 1954, and was particularly devastated by fallout from the Castle Bravo test. The population was evacuated from Rongelap following the test due to high radiation levels, however according to the most recent census in 2011 it has begun to recover with about eighty people living on the atoll.

Ailuk Atoll atoll

Ailuk Atoll is a coral atoll of 57 islets in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is located approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) north from Wotje. Its total land area is only 5.4 square kilometres (2.1 sq mi), but it encloses a lagoon with an area of 177.45 square kilometres (68.51 sq mi). The major islets are: Ajelep, Aliej, Ailuk, Alkilwe, Barorkan, Biken, Enejabrok, Enejelar, Kapen and Marib. Most of the islets are on the eastern side of the atoll. The western and southern sides of the atoll have a nearly continuous submerged coral reef, with three main passes that lead into the lagoon: Erappu Channel, Marok Channel and Eneneman Channel on the west side.

The $150 million fund was designed to generate interest to allow for payouts exceeding its initial value. [2] It was, however, subject to normal market economics, and its growth has not been steady; it incurred a significant loss in the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987–1988, for example. [4] The fund was able to generate and distribute at least $270 million worth of compensation. [9] Nonetheless, in 1997 the tribunal noted that the funds received from US in the 1980s were inadequate, [10] and by 2000 the RMI Government concurred that the trust fund had become "manifestly inadequate" to provide the compensation the Section 177 of the Compact of Free Association promised. On September 11, 2000, it filed a petition with the US Congress seeking further compensation from the United States under the "Changed Circumstances" provision of the Section 177. [2] By that time, the US had already approved compensation claims of more than $562 million under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act by persons injured as a result of nuclear tests in Nevada that the Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP report of 2003 noted "were much smaller in number and magnitude than the tests conducted in the Marshall Islands". [2] The 2000 RMI request to the US Congress has been described as "ignored", [4] and the tribunal has exhausted its funds, unable to pay remaining claimants by 2009, at which time it had awarded more than $2 billion for personal injury, property loss, and class-action claims, with much of that amount not paid to the claimants because of the lack of funds. [4] [11] [12] The United States Court of Federal Claims has rejected a claim from some Marshall Islands inhabitants, noting that the respective governments had already reached an agreement over claims, through also noting that the claimants can seek additional compensation from the US Congress. [4] Facing the reduction of its available funds, the Tribunal has been forced to limit its payments; noting that "For the first nine months of 2006, an initial payment was made in the amount of 15% of each new or amended award. Effective October 1, 2006, the initial payment level was reduced to 5% of the amount of the compensation awarded." [8] By the mid-2010s, about half of the valid claimants had died waiting for their compensation. [11]

The issue has been discussed by the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the unfulfilled commitments of the United States to address the impacts of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. Speakers noted that while section 177 of the Compact of Free Association recognized the United States' responsibility "to address past, present and future consequences of the nuclear testing claims", less than $4 million was awarded out of a $2.2 billion judgment rendered by a Nuclear Claims Tribunal created under the RMI Compact, and the United States Court of Claims had dismissed two lawsuits to enforce the judgement. [13] With respect to these unaddressed claims, medical practitioners also noted the potential widespread impacts of nuclear testing within the Pacific Proving Grounds, indicated by the prevalence of radiogenic diseases as well as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity associated with "[a] forced changed in dietary patterns and lifestyle" resulting from U.S. administration after the testing. [14] [15]

Present day

The tribunal has effectively ceased functioning around 2011 with a 2012 media report noting that "there have been no judges employed by the Tribunal for more than a year, and although the Tribunal remains open, it is now staffed only on a part-time basis". [5] The official webpage of the NCT went offline in mid-2014. [16] A 2015 news report noted that the office of the Tribunal was still semi-functional around that time, "the rent being paid by the Marshallese government in order to keep it open as a record of unpaid claims. Stacks of uncompensated claims could be seen in boxes piled high around the office." [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ The creation date varies in some sources. The NCT was first described by the Compact of Free Association that was signed by negotiators in 1982, approved by MI plebiscite in 1983 and signed into law in US in 1986. The NCT was finally established by RMI legislation in 1987 and became operational in 1988. [2] Its own webpage stated that "Nuclear Claims Tribunal was established in 1988". [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Kwajalein Atoll atoll

Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents often called by the shortened name, Kwaj. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles (16 km2). It lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3900 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Bikini Atoll Atoll in Republic of the Marshall Islands

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Enewetak Atoll atoll of the Marshall Islands

Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 664 people forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area total less than 5.85 square kilometres (2.26 sq mi), it is no higher than 5 meters and surrounds a deep central lagoon, 80 kilometres (50 mi) in circumference. It is the second-westernmost atoll of the Ralik Chain and is 305 kilometres (190 mi) west from Bikini Atoll.

Ebeye Island island in the United States of America

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Rongerik Atoll atoll

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Kili Island coral island

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Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll

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References

  1. ↑ "Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal". American Society of International Law. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP (January 2003). "The Nuclear Claims Tribunal Of The Republic Of The Marshall Islands: An Independent Examination And Assessment Of Its Decision-Making Processes" (PDF). Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  3. ↑ "History and Activities (accessed through the Wayback Machine)". May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bikinians evacuated 'for good of mankind' endure lengthy nuclear fallout" . Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Gabriel, Christopher San. "Bikinians' request for $5M trust fund withdrawal hits US opposition". www.mvariety.com. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Full text of Utrik Decision and Full text of Rongelap Decision (accessed through the Wayback Machine)". May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  7. 1 2 Elli Louka (January 1, 2011). Nuclear Weapons, Justice and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 162–. ISBN   978-0-85793-109-2.
  8. 1 2 "Personal Injury Awards (accessed through the Wayback Machine)". May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
  9. ↑ Carl Bruch; Carroll Muffett; Sandra S. Nichols (April 7, 2016). Governance, Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. Taylor & Francis. pp. 405–. ISBN   978-1-136-27206-6.
  10. ↑ Europa Publications, (September 2, 2003). A Political Chronology of South East Asia and Oceania. Routledge. p. 110. ISBN   978-1-135-35659-0.
  11. 1 2 Jorgensen, Timothy J. "Bikini islanders still deal with fallout of US nuclear tests, 70 years later". The Conversation. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Marshall Islands nuclear fund running out of cash". www.radioaustralia.net.au. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  13. ↑ Oversight on the Compact of Free Association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI): Medical Treatment of the Marshallese People, U.S. Nuclear Tests, Nuclear Claims Tribunal, Forced Resettlement, Use of Kwajalein Atoll for Missile Programs and Land Use Development Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine .
  14. ↑ Id. (testimony of Neal H. Palafox, M.D.); see also Yamada, Seiji (2004). "Cancer, Reproductive Adnormalities, and Diabetes in Micronesia: The Effect of Nuclear Testing" (PDF). Pacific Health Dialog. 11 (2): 216–21. PMID   16281703. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  15. ↑ Yamada, Seiji; Akiyama, Matthew (January 27, 2013). ""For the good of mankind": The legacy of nuclear testing in Micronesia". Social Medicine. 8 (2): 83–92. ISSN   1557-7112.
  16. ↑ nuclearclaimstribunal.com (the official page of the NCT went offline in mid-2014; this is the latest copy available from Internet Archive)
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