28 Apr 2014

US examines Marshalls nuclear suit

8:28 am on 28 April 2014

The United States says it is examining lawsuits filed by the Marshall Islands against it and eight other nuclear-armed nations.

The Marshall Islands has accused the nuclear powers of failing in their obligation to negotiate nuclear disarmament.

The US. State Department has defended the US record, saying its stockpile of nuclear weapons has been cut by 80 percent since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty took effect in 1970.

It says the US is dedicated to achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.

The Marshall Islands filed the lawsuit against the US in the US because the US refuses to recognise the International Court of Justice.

The other cases have been lodged with the ICJ in The Hague.

In the 1970s, New Zealand took France to court in a bid to stop nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific.

There has been no New Zealand comment to the Marshall Islands government's move.