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?”
Rightly or
