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01 April 2011 / Craig Barlow , Jason Hadden
Issue: 7459 / Categories: Opinion
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Flying under the radar?

There is a question, which has taxed lawyers and politicians alike for many years now. Is war ever legal? Presidents and prime ministers have sought resolutions, or indeed, not sought resolutions from the United Nations (UN), as justification for war...

Craig Barlow & Jason Hadden examine the legality of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 & its effect

There is a question, which has taxed lawyers and politicians alike for many years now. Is war ever legal? Presidents and prime ministers have sought resolutions, or indeed, not sought resolutions from the United Nations (UN), as justification for war. But perhaps they have asked the wrong question. Perhaps it is not whether war is legal, but whether the UN’s Security Council (SC) actually has the power within its constitution to legalise all wars.
On 16 March 2011 the UN’s Security Council passed Resolution No 1973 purporting to create a “no fly zone” over Libya. Within days Colonel Gaddafi asserted in a letter to western governments that the Resolution was invalid and asked: “Who gave you the right to intervene in our internal affairs?”

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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