European Nuclear Energy Tribunal
Ongoing
Inaugural Session of the ENET 11th Mandate, 5 February 2025, OECD Conference Centre, Paris. From the left: Kimberly Sexton Nick (Head, NEA Division of Nuclear Law), Thomas TORDAL-MORTENSEN (Denmark), Tom VANDEN BORRE (Belgium), Selma KUŞ (Germany), William D. Magwood, IV (Director-General of the NEA), Eugénie VIAL (France), Gottfried MUSGER (Austria), Hans Georg SEILER (Switzerland), Halil Ercüment ERDEM (Türkiye), Elena de Boissieu (Legal Adviser, NEA Division of Nuclear Law).

Date of creation

The European Nuclear Energy Tribunal was set up by the  Convention on the Establishment of a Security Control in the Field of Nuclear Energy (hereafter the "Security Control Convention") and its Protocol on the Tribunal established by the Security Control Convention (hereafter the "Protocol on the Tribunal"), both adopted on 20 December 1957.

The Security Control Convention and its Protocol on the Tribunal came into force on 22 July 1959 and the first judges were appointed on 1 January 1960.

General information

The European Nuclear Energy Tribunal was initially established to settle disputes arising out of the implementation of the security control mechanism, designed to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons under the Security Control Convention. The Tribunal’s competence was later extended to the settlement of disputes arising between Contracting Parties to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 29 July 1960 (hereafter the "Paris Convention") and the Brussels Convention of 31 January 1963 Supplementary to the Paris Convention (hereafter the "Brussels Supplementary Convention").

The dispute resolution mechanism in the Paris Convention and the Brussels Supplementary Convention stipulates that any dispute arising between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of either Convention shall, in the absence of a friendly settlement within a specified timeframe, be submitted to the Tribunal upon the request of any Contracting Party concerned.

In 1976, the Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy decided to suspend the implementation of the security control mechanism, in order to avoid duplication with similar systems established under the framework of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and of the International Atomic Energy Agency [NE(76)15, NE/M(76)2]. Since then, the jurisdiction of the Tribunal has been limited to resolving differences concerning the interpretation or application of the above-mentioned Paris Convention and Brussels Supplementary Conventions.

The Tribunal is composed of seven independent judges appointed for a five-year term by the OECD Council on the basis of a system of rotation between States Parties to the Security Control Convention and to the Paris Convention and of a Registrar. If the Tribunal does not include a judge of the same nationality as one of the Contracting Parties in a case under consideration, the government concerned may designate a person to sit as an additional judge in that particular case.

Decisions are binding from the date upon which they are delivered. There have been no cases submitted to the Tribunal so far.

Judges for the 11th term of office (2025-2029)

The judges appointed by the OECD Council for the term of office commencing 1 January 2025 and ending on 31 December 2029 are:

  • Mr Gottfried MUSGER (Austria)
  • Mr Tom VANDEN BORRE (Belgium)
  • Mr Thomas TORDAL-MORTENSEN (Denmark)
  • Ms Eugénie VIAL (France)
  • Ms Selma KUŞ (Germany)
  • Mr Hans Georg SEILER (Switzerland)
  • Mr Halil Ercüment ERDEM (Türkiye)

The President of the Tribunal is Mr Hans Georg SEILER.

The Registrar of the Tribunal is Ms Kimberly Sexton NICK.

States Parties to the Tribunal

The States Parties to the Security Control Convention are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

The States Parties to the Paris Convention are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

Seat

The seat of the European Nuclear Energy Tribunal is in Paris, France, at the OECD headquarters, pursuant to Article 7(b) of the Protocol on the Tribunal.

Functioning of the Tribunal and Rules of Procedure

At present, the functioning of the Tribunal is governed by the Security Control Convention, its Protocol on the Tribunal, the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and the relevant provisions of the Paris Convention and Brussels Supplementary Convention.

In accordance with Article 12(d) of the Security Control Convention, the Tribunal adopts its own Rules of Procedure, subject to the approval of the OECD Council. The Rules of Procedure of the European Nuclear Energy Tribunal  were approved by the OECD Council on 11 December 1962 and last amended on 19 March 2020.

Resources