File:New Zealand Representatives at the International Court of Justice in the Hague (9096639703).jpg

Photographs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs record group, showing New Zealand representatives at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. From left to right : Solicitor General R. C. Savage, Hon. Dr A.M. Finlay, Mr R.Q. Quentin Baxter. The ruling by the International Court of Justice was part of New Zealand’s long campaign against French nuclear testing in the Pacific. While the French initially ignored the court’s interim injunction and carried on testing in the atmosphere, continuing protests soon forced them to move the tests underground. New Zealanders had actively opposed French nuclear testing since the mid-1960s, when the tests were shifted from the Sahara to its Polynesian territories. Mururoa Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago became the focal point for both the tests and opposition to them. Greenpeace vessels sailed into the test site in 1972, delaying tests by several weeks. In 1973 the New Zealand and Australian governments took France to the International Court of Justice in an attempt to ban the tests. France ignored the court’s ruling that they must cease testing, but mounting international pressure forced them to switch to underground tests the following year. Information taken from: ‘World court condemns French nuclear tests', URL: www.nzhistory.net.nz/world-court-issues-injunction-agains..., (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 20-Dec-2012