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The Chilcot report and the law
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Williams, Andrew Trevor (2016) The Chilcot report and the law. The Political Quarterly, 87 (4). pp. 490-495. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12301 ISSN 1467-923X.
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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12301
Abstract
Questions of law permeate the Chilcot Report. All are shrouded in uncertainty. From the constitutional relationship between Prime Minister, his Cabinet and Parliament to the legality of going to war, the Inquiry presided over by Sir John Chilcot touched upon many controversial legal issues. It resolved none. But then, it was not a court of law or a judicial inquiry and never pretended to be. No one could have reasonably expected it to pronounce with conviction any judgement on the lawfulness of acts and decisions made by those who took the UK to war in Iraq. Instead, the Report provides information useful for those who wish to reach such judgements. Lawyers are already searching the vast document to inspire possible litigation, though that was not the concern of the Inquiry. It was supposed to determine what happened and learn lessons. Those were its very broad terms of reference.
But did the Inquiry deal effectively or properly with the legal issues which framed many of the decisions and actions it examined? In this article I look briefly at two key areas where law had particular relevance but, it is argued, received insufficient attention: the legal basis for going to war; and the conduct of the occupation after the initial hostilities were concluded. Both involve the application of international legal standards, a slippery subject for those seeking exactitude but valuable for judging the political and military leaders nonetheless.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain D History General and Old World > DS Asia |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law | ||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Great Britain, Chilcot, John, Sir, 1939- -- Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Blair, Tony, 1953- -- Influence, United Nations. Security Council -- Resolutions | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | The Political Quarterly | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 1467-923X | ||||||||
| Official Date: | December 2016 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 87 | ||||||||
| Number: | 4 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 490-495 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1111/1467-923X.12301 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 10 August 2016 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 14 November 2017 | ||||||||
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