The Uk Government‘s Legal Opinion on Forcible Measures in Response to the Use of Chemical Weapons by the Syrian Government

Bibliographic Data

ID9932336
AuthorsChristian Henderson (0000-0002-6846-8449, University of Liverpool, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume64
Issue1
Pages179-196
Publication date2015-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational and Comparative Law Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-5893 • E-ISSN: 1471-6895
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s002058931400061x
OpenAlexW2170121108
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited9

On 29 August 2013, the UK government published a memorandum setting out its ‘position regarding the legality of military action in Syria following the chemical weapons attack in Eastern Damascus on 21 August 2013’. While other States had contemplated some form of military action, most notably the US, none had been as clear and candid as to the legal basis upon which this would be launched. It might seem in this respect perhaps a little surprising that the UK decided in its relatively brief opinion that ‘the legal basis for military action would be humanitarian intervention’. As this article will attempt to highlight, this basic justification is far from uncontroversial. This short article will seek to be clear as to what the UK's legal position exactly was, whether and how this position can be reconciled with the lex lata governing the use of force for humanitarian purposes and its immediate impact upon it, and finally offer some reflections upon the contribution the opinion and its central legal argument has made to future legal argumentation in this area

Action (physics · Argument (complex analysis · Business · Government (linguistics · Memorandum · Political science · Position (finance · Principle of legality · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · Medicine · Philosophy · War, Ethics, and Justification

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