Theory of Morphological Image Processing

5. THE IMPACT OF IAEA’S LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME IN

areas: safety, security, safeguards and civil liability for nuclear damage³, and that has, like other branches of law, not only a national but also an international component [2, 3].

Indeed, today the hopes expressed in 1968 during the first IAEA training course on nuclear law for the harmonization of rules related to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the creation of a “world nuclear law” [4] appear to be realized to a large extent, as a wide range of international legal instruments have already been adopted under the auspices of the IAEA that establish principles and requirements for the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technology [5 – 22], several of which provide the basis for international cooperation in related matters.

The IAEA General Conference regularly encourages Member States to adhere to these international legal instruments and to establish and maintain, inter alia, adequate legal infrastructures for the use of nuclear technology [23]. At their request, the IAEA Secretariat supports Member States in these endeavours.

This support is provided through IAEA’s legislative assistance programme, which aims to create awareness in Member States on the international legal instruments adopted under its auspices and to assist them in complying with their international obligations and in establishing and maintaining adequate national nuclear legal frameworks. The programme, primarily funded and implemented through technical cooperation projects, also seeks to transfer related knowledge to Member States through regional and interregional training events like the Nuclear Law Institute (NLI). Reference materials, such as the IAEA handbooks on nuclear law [2, 3], are also developed under the programme and made available for use by officials in Member States.

5.2.2. Scope of the Programme

The IAEA has been providing legislative assistance to Member States since its inception in 1957, by “sending experts to the countries to advise national authorities in drafting nuclear laws, or by supplying written opinions on draft laws and regulations or discussing them with national representatives” [1]. The programme has nevertheless evolved throughout the years to adapt to the changing needs of Member States. As the interest in nuclear technology increased progressively throughout the years and the international legal instruments grew in number and complexity, the demand for legislative assistance by Member States started to raise exponentially. This led to the progressive consolidation of the programme and the approval in 1996 of the first technical cooperation project dedicated to legislative assistance⁴, under which the IAEA Secretariat started to provide support in a more comprehensive and systematic manner.

The scope of legislative assistance has also evolved to address all areas of nuclear law, namely safety, security, safeguards and civil liability for nuclear damage. Indeed, while in the early years national legislation focused largely on safety considerations, as described below, modern

3 Safety refers to the protection of people and the environment against radiation risks and to the safety of facilities and activities that give rise to these risks; Security refers to the prevention and detection of, and response to, malicious acts involving nuclear and other radioactive material or associated facilities; Safeguards refers to measures to ensure that States’ undertakings to use nuclear material only for peaceful purposes are upheld; Nuclear liability refers to the establishment of mechanisms for compensation of nuclear damage caused by a nuclear accident.

4 Regional technical cooperation project for Europe RER/0/015 Legislative Assistance for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy was approved by the IAEA Board of Governors in 1996 for the 1997-1998 cycle [32].

nuclear laws are much broader in scope, many of which cover all these areas in a comprehensive manner.

The nature of the legislative process, which involves a wide range of national stakeholders and many steps at the technical, governmental and parliamentary levels, has also played an important role in the evolution of the programme. Many years may pass from the provision of bilateral assistance by the IAEA until the enactment and entry into force of the legislation and Member States started more and more to also seek IAEA assistance at later stages of the process.

The programme has therefore expanded to offer support to Member States in all stages of the legislative process, from the identification of elements that need to be addressed and the related policy decisions that need to be made at the initial drafting stage, through text review of legislative proposals, organization of meetings with drafting teams and conduct of briefings for stakeholder institutions and parliamentarians.

Legislative assistance is available to all Member States, regardless of the respective scope of their nuclear technology programmes, and to achieve results it needs to adjust accordingly to specific national circumstances and needs. Some Member States are involved for the first time in the development of nuclear legislation to enable the implementation of priority projects such as cancer control programmes. Others have many years of regulatory experience and seek to correct identified gaps, take stock of lessons learned or peer reviews or bring their legislation in line with a treaty or convention to which they have adhered. Others yet may be engaged in considering a nuclear power programme and need to revise their legislation accordingly or may be interested in other new projects involving nuclear technology for which the existing legislation is not adequate.

5.2.3. Overview of Activities, Tools and Outputs

In view of the increase in demand from Member States, to facilitate long-term and targeted support, it became necessary to develop specific tools allowing for a systematic planning and assessment of individual needs. A country work plan mechanism was therefore developed that has been used since 2014 for the planning, monitoring and follow-up of legislative assistance activities and nuclear law developments in Member States. These informal work plans, which are in place for close to 110 Member States, are periodically reviewed and updated, normally in the context of regional events.

Country work plans seek to address Member States needs and priorities through tailored activities. In most cases, to achieve results when supporting Member States in developing nuclear legislation, bilateral assistance in assessing, revising and drafting national laws needs to be complemented with other components of the programme like training of drafters and awareness-raising of decision-makers. Training and awareness-raising through national seminars or workshops are also key in helping officials gain a better understanding of the relevant international legal instruments, in support of the national adherence process.

Although developed on a bilateral basis, work plans also allow to take into account common needs that could be addressed through sub-regional or interregional initiatives or through regular training programmes like the Nuclear Law Institute (NLI). They are also factored into broader IAEA frameworks for providing and coordinating assistance to Member States, such

as Country Programme Frameworks⁵, Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plans⁶ and Integrated Work Plans⁷. For easy access and reference, data from these legislative assistance work plans is reflected and consolidated in an internal dedicated database.

Regional technical cooperation projects have provided the vehicle to identify and address common needs in Member States while enabling also to assess and target individual needs through the country work plan mechanism. As an illustration, since 2014, 12 regional projects and one interregional project have been or are being implemented⁸, and the following activities were conducted between 2014 and 2019:

 106 reviews of draft laws;

 50 awareness or legislative assistance meetings and missions, including 22 national workshops or seminars;

 15 regional or topical workshops on nuclear law.

As illustrated in the below sections, through the above activities the IAEA’s legislative assistance programme has played a key role in enhancing legal frameworks in Member States, in terms of both national legislation and treaty participation. In addition, in the context of these activities, lessons learned are transferred to and discussed among Member States and common or recurring legal issues thus start to arise as topics, trends or developments in respect of which an identification, consolidation and exchange of experiences through the programme is particularly valuable for Member States.

5.3.IMPACT OF THE PROGRAMME IN MEMBER STATES