Addressing Compliance Gaps in Arms Transfers - is the Arms Trade above International Law?

28 May 2025

Legal experts, UN officials, diplomats, students and human rights advocates gathered Tuesday 20th May 2025 at Villa Moynier to tackle a pressing global concern: Is the arms trade above international law?

Organized by the Geneva Academy with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva (QUNO), and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), the event explored legal gaps and accountability failures in global arms transfers.

'This isn’t just about treaties and regulations—it’s about lives,' said co-moderators Tessa Cerisier (WILPF) and Yvette Issar (QUNO), emphasizing the human cost of unchecked arms exports. They went on to open the discussion by citing a recent UK High Court Case over the sale of F-35 fighter jet components to Israel and raising critical questions about state and corporate responsibilities and impunity for human rights and humanitarian law violations.

Four Key Compliance Failures

Daniel Moegster of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) summarized findings from a recent report (A/HRC/58/41), identifying four major areas of concern:

1. Inadequate Safeguards – In some States, political considerations outweigh risks of international human rights and humanitarian law violations, especially when transferring arms to allies.
2. Corporate Due Diligence Gaps – Arms firms do not assess human rights and humanitarian law risks, and 'strategically offshore' their operations to more relaxed jurisdictions.
3. Lack of State Oversight – Governments rarely require companies to assess downstream risks and do not do enough to investigate unlawful arms transfers.
4. Barriers to Justice – Victims lack access to information, face strict standing requirements, and courts often defer to government decision-making.

'These gaps mean arms are being transferred in ways that foreseeably contribute to human rights and humanitarian law violations,' Moegster warned.

What does the law say and [not] do?

Dr. Hélène Tigroudja of Aix-Marseille University emphasized that international law, and in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), does apply to arms transfers. 'Article 6 on the right to life is clear—states have duties when arms exports cause foreseeable harm abroad,' she said. She criticized the judicial tendency to label arms decisions as political and thus non-reviewable. Dr. Tara Van Ho of the University of Essex added that while States have clear obligations in that regard, arms companies have corresponding and independent responsibilities too, and must adhere to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 'The arms trade is not uniquely complex,' she said. 'Oil, pharmaceuticals, and mining sectors all follow due diligence standards—so must arms manufacturers.' Van Ho stressed the need for enforceable contracts, internal accountability, and state oversight.

Chloe Bailey of ECCHR described efforts to hold European states and companies accountable for arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition. 'Export data is vague, and end-user info is withheld,' she said. 'It’s almost impossible to build legal cases when the facts are kept secret.' She noted that even in cases with clear evidence, courts often dismiss challenges as either too vague or too late—an outcome caused by the very secrecy they protect.

A Call for Action

In closing, Florence Foster - Senior Project Manager at the Geneva Academy - urged for concrete steps to be taken, including mandatory due diligence, greater transparency, and closer collaboration between disarmament and human rights actors. 'The arms trade cannot operate above the law,' she said.

The evening did not end in alarm, but in resolve to act on these findings, support those calling for accountability, and champion systems that uphold human rights and international humanitarian law over political or commercial interests.

A full transcript can be found here.