The Arms Trade Treaty: A Commentary

Andrew Clapham is the Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. Before he joined the Graduate Institute of International Studies Institute in 1997, he was the Representative of Amnesty International to the United Nations in New York. He represented the International Commission of Jurists at the UN diplomatic conferences that negotiated the Arms Trade Treaty. ; Stuart Casey-Maslen is an international lawyer specializing in use of force. He is an Honorary Research Associate at Bristol University's School of Law, a consultant with the Institute for International and Comparative Law at the University of Pretoria, and a consultant on international law with the non-governmental organization, Norwegian People's Aid, on conflict preparedness and protection. He served as a legal advisor to the Swiss delegation at the UN diplomatic conferences that negotiated the Arms Trade Treaty.; Gilles Giacca is Legal Advisor at the Arms Unit of the ICRC. He was formerly a Research Fellow at the Law Faculty and co-ordinator of the Oxford Martin School Human Rights for Future Generations programme. He represented the NGO Trial at the UN diplomatic conferences that negotiated the Arms Trade Treaty. ; Sarah Parker is a senior researcher with the Small Arms Survey. She served as an advisor on the Australian delegation throughout the Arms Trade Treaty negotiations and was the consultant to the Chair of the Arms Trade Treaty during the Open-Ended Working Group in 2009.

The Arms Trade Treaty is the first universal disarmament treaty to control the export and import of all conventional arms. This commentary describes each provision of the Treaty, how it was negotiated, and the key challenges to its implementation.