Judicial Enforcement of BWC and CWC implementing legislation

Since 2012 VERTIC’s National Implementation Measures (NIM) Programme has researched and published our analysis of BWC and CWC related court cases. Case law analyses can help to identify best practices for creating or improving legislative frameworks to control biological agents, toxins, toxic chemicals and their precursors, and related materials. Cases show in vivid detail how the law applied in practice can be used to ensure accountability and how enforcement measures can help to secure prosecutions for relevant crimes. Further, court cases can demonstrate gaps in legislation and highlight legislative errors, leading to legislative amendments in the future.

This Brief details three court cases, from the US, Germany and the UK and identifies a number of overarching lessons that can be learned from them. The Brief then provides a number of recommendations for stakeholders to enhance the drafting and adoption of national legislation to implement the BWC and the CWC.