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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] ----- Original Message ----- From: George Farebrother To: tp2000-l@gn.apc.org Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 7:08 PM Subject: [Tp2000-l] Defending the Charter DEFENDING THE CHARTER The United Nations is not above the Law The Institute for Law and Peace has just produced an important dossier under the above title. This is a collection of papers on the legality of actions by the United Nations, principally the Security Council, and the principles that should govern those actions. The opening summary The UN Charter does not Authorise this War points out that responsibility for deciding the degree of force needed to uphold international peace and security cannot be a matter for individual governments. It has to be determined by the Security Council, itself a body that is subject to the Rule of Law. The Council is legally obliged to act in accordance with the principles of its Charter. A new resolution on Iraq would not be valid if it were obtained by threats or inducements and must satisfy two tests. There must be a current "threat to peace" and non-military measures must be "inadequate". Any force used must also comply with the principles of International Humanitarian Law and be necessary, proportionate and discriminate. An important section of the dossier stems from a meeting at Charney Manor, a Quaker centre, in June last year. Members of the British Armed Forces Joint Doctrine and Concepts Centre considered ways of "enabling armed forces to be effective enforcers of peace, ... but without resort to war." Prior to that, military circles had usually consider Peace Enforcement to be tantamount to war. The dossier emphasises that there is a wide variety of responses to the present crisis which fall short of war but do not comprise "doing nothing". The full text is available on www.war.inquiry.freeuk.com Inquiries to George Farebrother Secretary World Court Project UK 67 Summerheath Rd Hailsham Sussex BN 27 3DR UK Phone and Fax +44 (0)1323 844 269 Email geowcpuk@gn.apc.org) Or Kitty McVey 11 Langley Rd, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4AE 0208 650 8843 kitty@kmcvey.freeserve.co.uk George Farebrother will not be available between 4 - 24 March George Farebrother Secretary World Court Project UK 67 Summerheath Rd Hailsham Sussex BN 27 3DR UK Phone and Fax +44 (0)1323 844 269 Email geowcpuk@gn.apc.org) web www.gn.apc.org/wcp The World Court Project is an international citizens' network which is working to publicise and have implemented the 8 July 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal status of the threat or use of nuclear weapons. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.458 / Virus Database: 257 - Release Date: 24/02/03 _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk