BOB MATHEWS - PhD Student Profile

Bob Mathews is a Principal Research Scientist in the Nuclear Biological and Chemical Defence and Arms Control Section of the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). His main current scientific research interest is the application for treaty purposes of methods for the detection and analysis of organic chemicals, and the development of verification procedures.

In addition to his scientific research, since 1984 Bob has provided scientific and technical support to Australian Government efforts towards non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This has included the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the establishment of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the negotiation of a Verification Protocol for the Biological Weapons Convention, which has involved an unhealthy number of trips to Europe. He has also visited several regional countries for arms control consultations, and to provide guidance in their preparations for implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Bob has been collaborating with Professor Tim McCormack at the Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne on various scientific / legal aspects of arms control / law of armed conflict since 1991, and was appointed Visiting Fellow in the faculty in 1997 (Principal Fellow in 2002). He was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Asia Pacific Centre for Military Law in 2001. In addition to the research collaboration, he provides lectures to post-graduate courses.

Bob has been a Member of the Australian Red Cross International Humanitarian Law Committee since 1994 (Deputy Chair since 2000), and has provided advice on a range of arms control / law of armed conflict issues in that capacity. He has also represented the Australian Red Cross at regional IHL meetings, and has participated in meetings on weapons related issues at the ICRC in Geneva.

Bob was awarded the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary's Award in 1993 and an Order of Australia Medal in 1994 for his contribution to chemical disarmament. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute in 1995, and was invited to join the International Verification Consultants Network of the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC, London) in 1998.

Abstract of PhD Thesis
'The Negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and its Implications for Other Arms Control Regimes'
(expected completion date: February 2006)

The negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) commenced in 1969, and concluded in 1992. The CWC represents an outstanding achievement of multilateral diplomacy and breaks new ground in arms control agreements: it is the first comprehensively verifiable multilateral treaty that completely bans an entire class of weapons, and firmly limits activities that may contribute to the production of those weapons. Verification under the CWC includes compulsory national declarations about relevant industrial and military activities, and a regime of routine inspections of declared industrial and military facilities. An additional feature is the provision of a "challenge inspection", under which a State Party can request at short notice an inspection of any site in another State Party. Since entry into force in April 1997, the Convention has been administered by the new Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), located in The Hague. Ten years on, the CWC is still regarded as setting the bench-mark in terms of verification provisions in an arms control treaty.

The objective of this thesis is a critical analysis of the negotiation of the CWC, within the context of the changing political climate, from the essentially bilateral process in the late 1960s, to what became genuine multilateral negotiations in the post Cold war 1990s. The development of the key provisions of the CWC, including: scope; verification of chemical industry; challenge inspections; export licensing and technical co-operation; will be analysed in turn, based on the political background at the particular time. The thesis will then describe and critically assess the work of the Preparatory Commission of the OPCW, which was established in February 1993, and the first 5 years of the operational treaty, including the preparations for the first Review Conference to be held in April 2003.

Finally, the thesis will consider the potential lessons from the negotiation of the CWC which may be relevant to the negotiation and strengthening of arms control treaties related to nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and certain conventional weapons.

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Contact details:
law-apcml@unimelb.edu.au