ІNTERNATІΟNAL TRANЅFER ΟF ЅALW: LІMІTATІΟNЅ AND PRΟBLEMЅ

Abstract

Small Arms and Light weapons (SALW) are accessible to wide range of people and are suitable for irregular warfare or criminality because they are easy to conceal and transfer within and outside a country. These arms have been excessively manufactured and distributed during and after the cold war era. The ‘superpowers’, China and their allies delivered a large amount of SALW that ranged from landmines to missiles to combatants in south east, Africa and Latin America, during the cold war. The International Law has not produced any rules which could restrict the level of armaments of a sovereign state. States enjoy the right to retain, import or export SALW for self-defense, security needs as well as for its capacity to participate in peacekeeping operations. SALW transfers can also fuel conflict, violent crime and instability; undermine sustainable development and facilitate grave abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law and several principles of jus cogens. It is, therefore, a legitimate and urgent concern of the international community that States maintain effective national controls over international transfers of SALW. Almost all States maintain laws, regulations and administrative procedures to control the import, export and transit of arms and other military goods and technologies. However, many of these controls need to be strengthened and updated specifically as they relate to small arms and light weapons, and need to be supplemented with effective controls over transshipment and brokering. The enforcement of transfer controls is often also in need of strengthening. This article aims at analyzing the problem and challenges associated with the transfer of of SALW and the repercussions of its illicit transfer, due to the lack of enforceable legal norms.