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International lawyers probe legality of Iraq war

IRNA

London, Nov 4, IRNA -- A panel of eight renowned international lawyers
are meeting in London this Saturday to consider whether the US and UK 
breached international law in the conduct of military action against 
Iraq. 
The leading law experts from Ireland, Canada, Britain and France 
are also exploring the boundaries of international criminal law to see
whether there is enough evidence for a formal complaint to be filed at
the International Criminal Court in the Hague. 
Inquiry, being held at the London School of Economics, is being 
organized by the Law School at Warwick University in the English 
Midlands. 
Apart from considering whether the war was legal, other issues are
being debated, including the use of such weapons as cluster bombs and 
depleted uranium, the bombing of civilian targets and the conduct of 
the ongoing military occupation. 
"Many questions arise related to the situations in which war 
crimes and crimes against humanity can be said to have taken place 
and how such crimes may be prosecuted," Andrew Williams, from 
Warwick`s Law Department, said. 
He posed whether such acts as the bombing of civilian targets can 
be considered within the definitions of war crimes or crimes against 
humanity. 
Professor Upendra Baxi, an international law expert from the 
university and a panel member, suggested that evidence has to be 
scrutinized to see if the British government misled the country over 
the war if democracy, transparency and honesty are to be respected. 
HC/AH/210 
End