Archive for 'Legality' Category
“Chilcot should give legal view on war”
Today’s Guardian carries a letter from Louis Blom-Cooper QC arguing that the Inquiry needs to look very closely at both the process by which the attorney general came to state that the war would be legal and the validity of that decision. I’m reproducing it here in full:
Jonathan Steele tells us (Iraq’s missing witnesses, 2 [...]
Clegg “gaffe” prompts warning from Sands
by Chris Ames
The Guardian is making a lot of Nick Clegg’s alleged “gaffe” at PMQs today when he described the Iraq war as illegal:
a leading international lawyer warned that the statement by a government minister in such a formal setting could increase the chances of charges against Britain in international courts.
Philippe Sands, professor of law [...]
Clegg in Iraq “gaffe”
by Chris Ames
The Guardian reports that:
The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, was under pressure today after a series of gaffes in the House of Commons forced the government to issue clarifications on Iraq and immigration policy.
…
Clegg’s comments on Iraq came during an exchange with Labour’s shadow justice secretary, Jack Straw, who was Tony Blair’s foreign [...]
Can Ken Clarke disclose the Iraq war Cabinet minutes?
by Chris Lamb
I am currently preparing for an Information Tribunal appeal over my Freedom of Information request of 19 March 2009, which asks;
“Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request disclosure of any copy of the minutes for the Cabinet meetings of 13 and 17 March 2003 held by the Information [...]
Cabinet not trusted with legal advice
The Inquiry has now published the transcript of Lord Boateng’s hearing this afternoon. Here are the sections in which he refers to the absence of full legal advice:
… it wasn’t actually until the Cabinet meeting in March, when it was clear that all other options had been exhausted and where we had the benefit of [...]
Cabinet ’should have seen’ full legal arguments on Iraq
The BBC is reporting that:
The cabinet should have seen all the arguments on the legality of the Iraq war, a former senior minister has said.
Lord Boateng said it would have been “helpful” to see then Attorney General Lord Goldsmith’s full legal deliberations in the run-up to war.
Military action would be lawful, Lord Goldsmith ruled days [...]
Iraq Inquiry extends deadline for international lawyer submissions
by Chris Ames
The Inquiry issued the following press release yesterday:
Iraq Inquiry extends deadline for international lawyer submissions
In June the Iraq Inquiry issued an open invitation to international lawyers to give their analysis of the arguments relied upon by the UK Government as the legal basis for the military intervention in Iraq. The Inquiry decided to [...]
New Goldsmith papers released
by Chris Ames
The Inquiry has today published more documents showing how attorney general Lord Goldsmith changed his mind about the legality of the war. Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell ordered that the documents be declassified after the government initially blocked publication on grounds of legal professional privilege.
The documents include early drafts of Goldsmith’s long [...]
Some news from the Inquiry
by Chris Ames
I said yesterday that I would ask the Inquiry to clarify which international lawyers it had written to soliciting submissions. It replied promptly, saying that “The invitation has been circulated to professional lawyers via the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the Public International Discussion Group. It has not been sent [...]
Who will be the judge of the legal issues?
by Chris Ames
It’s worth taking a closer look at the Inquiry’s press release last week, stating that it had written to “international lawyers”, asking for their analysis of the arguments relied upon by the UK government as the legal basis for the military intervention in Iraq. The Inquiry is telling us very clearly what it [...]