Nuclear Terrorism Convention

The Nuclear Terrorism Convention (formally, the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism) is a 2005 United Nations treaty designed to criminalize acts of nuclear terrorism and to promote police and judicial cooperation to prevent, investigate and punish those acts. As of January 2024, the convention has 115 signatories and 127 state parties, including the nuclear powers China, France, India, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Most recently, Ecuador ratified the convention on January 19, 2024.

The Convention covers a broad range of acts and possible targets, including nuclear power plants and nuclear reactors; covers threats and attempts to commit such crimes or to participate in them, as an accomplice; stipulates that offenders shall be either extradited or prosecuted; encourages States to cooperate in preventing terrorist attacks by sharing information and assisting each other in connection with criminal investigations and extradition proceedings; and, deals with both crisis situations, assisting States to solve the situations and post-crisis situations by rendering nuclear material safe through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In April 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism by consensus as Resolution A/RES/59/290 during its 91st plenary meeting. Prior to that, negotiations were conducted through sessions of an Ad Hoc Working Group and the Legal (Sixth) Committee from 1999 to 2005—spanning the fifty‑fourth to fifty‑ninth General Assembly sessions—to finalize the text.

Following adoption, the Convention was opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 14 September 2005 until 31 December 2006 in accordance with Article 24. It formally entered into force on 7 July 2007, which occurred 30 days after the deposit of the twenty‑second instrument of ratification in line with Article 25(1) of the Convention.