This is the text of the legal opinion by Professor Dapo Akande, commissioned by Tom Watson, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party on the recent airstrikes on Damascus by the UK armed forces
Opinion of Professor Dapo Akande, Professor of Public International Law & Co-Director, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, University of Oxford 16 April 2018
1. I have been asked by Tom Watson MP, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, to prepare a brief opinion responding to the UK government’s position on the legality, under international law, of military action taken against the Syrian government on 13/14 April 2018. As set out in this opinion, the position taken by the government is significantly flawed. The military action taken was not in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international law.
2. The United Nations Charter (Article 2 (4)) prohibits the threat or use of armed force…
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