Peter Rowe – författare

There is no doubt that international law was of major importance during the Gulf conflict of 1990-91. Military and other actions were repeatedly justified through reference to international law, and disputes about interpretation were frequent.

This book provides a definitive legal analysis of the conflict, with reference both to international and to English law. Some have been tempted to argue that international law is an ineffective means of controlling the activities of a state and its armed forces from the fact that there were no war crimes trials of the leaders of Iraq, or of any other state. International law does, however, provide a set of norms either (a) agreed to by individual states through the ratification of, or accession to, a treaty, or (b) which apply to all states by the operation of customary international law and other secondary sources. This book determines these norms in order to judge the manner in which individual states recognized the binding nature of them in the conduct of their operations. The contributors include lawyers from each of the three British armed services.

There is no doubt that international law was of major importance during the Gulf conflict of 1990-91. Military and other actions were repeatedly justified through reference to international law, and disputes about interpretation were frequent.

This book provides a definitive legal analysis of the conflict, with reference both to international and to English law. Some have been tempted to argue that international law is an ineffective means of controlling the activities of a state and its armed forces from the fact that there were no war crimes trials of the leaders of Iraq, or of any other state. International law does, however, provide a set of norms either (a) agreed to by individual states through the ratification of, or accession to, a treaty, or (b) which apply to all states by the operation of customary international law and other secondary sources. This book determines these norms in order to judge the manner in which individual states recognized the binding nature of them in the conduct of their operations. The contributors include lawyers from each of the three British armed services.

This book discusses the manner in which Britain’s wars, which took place between 2000 and 2015, have interacted with the relevant principles of international law and English law for the purpose, primarily, of considering legal accountability.

During a debate in the House of Lords in 2005 a former Chief of the Defence Staff commented that ‘the Armed Forces are under legal siege.’ The book will discuss the major legal issues which have arisen, ranging from the various votes in Parliament to go to war, the constitutional relationship between ministers and senior commanders, the right under international law to use force, the influence of human rights law, the role of the courts in England (including the coroners’ courts), to the legal regime applying to the conduct of UK military operations. It will assess critically whether the armed forces will now have to accept that operations conducted outside the UK are subject to greater legal scrutiny than previously and whether, if this is the case, it is likely to hinder their future military activities.

This book will be of great interest to scholars of international law, the law of armed conflict, military studies and international relations, as well as to those with a professional or other interest in the subject matter.

This book discusses the manner in which Britain’s wars, which took place between 2000 and 2015, have interacted with the relevant principles of international law and English law for the purpose, primarily, of considering legal accountability.

During a debate in the House of Lords in 2005 a former Chief of the Defence Staff commented that ‘the Armed Forces are under legal siege.’ The book will discuss the major legal issues which have arisen, ranging from the various votes in Parliament to go to war, the constitutional relationship between ministers and senior commanders, the right under international law to use force, the influence of human rights law, the role of the courts in England (including the coroners’ courts), to the legal regime applying to the conduct of UK military operations. It will assess critically whether the armed forces will now have to accept that operations conducted outside the UK are subject to greater legal scrutiny than previously and whether, if this is the case, it is likely to hinder their future military activities.

This book will be of great interest to scholars of international law, the law of armed conflict, military studies and international relations, as well as to those with a professional or other interest in the subject matter.