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Last April, a group of eight law professors wrote to Britain's Attorney General and the Prosecutor of the newly created International Criminal Court in The Hague. In a 30-page document, the members of the Peacerights group explained why they thought an investigation should be opened into the possible commission of war crimes by Britain and the United States in Iraq

A nuclear weapons treaty secretly agreed between Britain and the US could be in breach of international law, the government was warned yesterday.

Article in Nature: Nuclear weapons are not being disarmed as quickly as they should. SPL The impending renewal of a pact on nuclear research between the United Kingdom and the United States could breach the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), British lawyers say.

Ministers today faced demands to come clean over the extent of US-UK nuclear co-operation amid claims it could break international law.

Is the UK in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by its renewal of the Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA) with the USA ?

The decision of any government to go to war is a critically important one, and not surprisingly the part played by the UK in the recent war in Iraq, has raised profound concerns as to its basis in morality, common sense and legality.

Further to our previous advice on whether the United Kingdom (UK) can rely on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 (Resolution 1441) to use force against Iraq, we are asked to advise the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on whether the UK can rely on the authorisation to use force contained in UN Security Council Resolution 678 (Resolution 678), which was adopted on 29 November 1990, to take military action against Iraq.

Peace protesters have their day before judges but are unable to force the Government to show its hand on Iraq. By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, was as opaque as the swirling desert sands when he tried to explain yesterday whether Britain could lawfully attack Iraq without a further mandate from the UN Security Council.

For over a decade the 'hawks' have attempted to make the argument for renewed military action against Iraq and for just as long the 'doves' have tried to set out why they believe an assault would be unjustified.

I shall argue that the United Kingdom can take, or assist in, military action against Iraq for the purpose of restoring international peace and security in the Gulf area. This would be lawful in international law and would not need fresh authorisation from the Security Council. For this purpose I will show that the authority to use force conferred by Security Council Resolution 678 of 1990 is still valid; that Resolution 1441, adopted last month, does not affect that authority or require, or even envisage, a further resolution; and that the resolution confirmed that Iraq continues to be in breach of the terms of the ceasefire laid down in Resolution 687 of 1991. I shall also show that there may be grounds on which force could be used in self-defence.