Wednesday, November 1, 1995


   THE HAGUE (Reuter) -- France urged the International Court of Justice
Wednesday to reject a United Nations request for advice on the legality
of nuclear weapons.
   A French foreign ministry legal official argued that the request was
inappropriate and that a nuclear deterrent was key to national self-
defense.
   The World Health Organization and the U.N. General Assembly have
asked the court, the United Nation's main judicial body, to give an
historic, though non-binding, pronouncement on whether international law
permits the threat or use of nuclear weapons.
   On the second day of public hearings at the court, France argued that
the requests were "manifestly inadmissible" and "disturbing" and should
be rejected.
   Marc de Brichambaut, foreign ministry legal affairs director,
insisted that individual nations should be allowed to determine their
own defense policies, particularly in the case of self-defense.
   "I would warn the court against a formula which...would imply an
assessment of a defense policy based on deterrence," he told the 14
judges.
   "Such an approach would call into doubt the very basis of legitimate
defense, a principle which...protects the existence of states when they
suffer armed aggression."
   Last Friday France staged its third nuclear test in the South Pacific
since September, one of a series planned by Paris before it signs an
international treaty banning all tests.  The tests have met widespread
international condemnation.
   De Brichambaut said France was committed to working toward a
nuclear-free world, but only through the existing channels of
negotiation and not through an abstract legal finding.
   On the first day of hearings Monday Australia, one of the fiercest
opponents of French nuclear tests, also urged the court to offer no
opinion, but said that, if it did, it should declare a ban on all
nuclear arms.
   The court's decision is expected early next year.