On December 6, 2007, the Austrian Parliament passed legislation that established a complete ban on cluster munitions. Austria was the second country to institute such a ban after Belgium, which banned cluster munitions in February 2006. In May 2008, more than 100 countries adopted a draft treaty to ban the use, manufacture and stockpiling of cluster munitions at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions. The resulting Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) [PDF] opened for signature in December 2008 and officially took effect in August 2010. Despite international pressure, the US has consistently rejected the call to completely ban cluster bombs, citing the possibility of discouraging cooperation with non-signatories and military impracticalities.

Learn more about cluster bombs, and read commentary on the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions from JURIST Guest Columnist David Kaye in Forum and commentary on the CCM from JURIST Guest Columnist Thomas Nash in Hotline.

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