[JURIST] UN Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Larry Johnson called for greater acceptance of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism [PDF text] Monday, noting an "urgent need to enhance international cooperation" to both prevent terrorism and punish terrorists. Johnson was moderating a panel discussion between experts on the topic of nuclear terrorism [press release, PDF] at the time. The panel noted that a few weeks ago Bangladesh became the 22nd country to ratify or accede to the treaty, meeting the minimum number of signatories to become international law. It will come into force on July 7.

In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin [official profile] signed a bill officially ratifying the treaty [JURIST report]. Russia proposed the treaty and became its first signatory in 2005 [JURIST report], after several years of negotiations between nuclear and non-nuclear nations. The UN News Service has more.