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2. United States President's State of the Union Address of 29 January 2002, <http://www.whitehouse.gov>.

3. Keesings Record of World Events (1998) pp. 42697–42700Google Scholar (hereinafter referred to as Keesings).

4. SC Res. 687 (1991) concerning the use of such terms in relation to SC Resolutions, see Thirlway, H., ‘The Law and Procedure of the International court of Justice 1960–1989’, 67 BYIL (1996) p. 1, at p. 29Google Scholar: ‘It is unclear to what extent, if any, the rules as to the interpretation of treaties may be applied, by extension, to the interpretation of the resolutions or decisions of international organisations.’

5. Keesings (2002) pp. 45114–45117; Murphy, S.D., ‘Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law’, 97 AJIL (2003) p. 419, at pp. 419–432.Google Scholar

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8. Ibid., at p. 45314.

9. Ibid., at pp. 45115–45117.

10. Ibid., at pp. 45264–45265.

11. Ibid., at pp. 45313–45319.

12. Ibid., at pp. 45433–45434.

13. Simma, B., ed., The Charter of the United Nations: A Commentary, 2nd edn. (Oxford, Oxford University Press 2002) pp. 701 et seq.Google Scholar

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17. Herndl, K., ‘Reflections on the Role, Functions and Procedures of the Security Council of the United Nations’, 206 Hague Recueil (1987) p. 289Google Scholar; Caron, D.D., ‘The Legitimacy of the Collective Authority of the Security Council’, 87 AJIL (1993) p. 552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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21. Statement by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, in Answer to a Parliamentary Question, Tuesday 18 March 2003, <www.fco.gov.uk>. Also see ‘Remarks of the Honorable William Howard Taft, IV, Legal Adviser, US Department of State Before the National Association of Attorneys General, March 20, 2003’, <http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraqtext2003/032129taft.htm>. Taft, W.H. IV, Buchwald, T.F., ‘Preemption, Iraq, and International Law’, 97 AJIL (2003) p. 557 et seq.Google Scholar

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23. Ibid., para 2.

24. Ibid., para 4.

25. Ibid., para 13.

26. ‘Statement by the Attorney General’, supra n. 2; Wedgwood, R., ‘The Fall of Saddam Hussein: Security Council Mandates and Preemptive Self-Defence’, 97 AJIL (2003) p. 576, at pp. 578–582CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Yoo, J., ‘International Law and the War in Iraq’, 97 AJIL (2003) p. 663, at pp. 567–571CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wedgwood, R., ‘The Enforcement of Security Council Resolution 687: The Threat of Force Against Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction’, 92 AJIL (1998) p. 724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

27. It is claimed that in effect they constitute delegation of power. Sarooshi, D., The United Nations and the Development of Collective Security (Oxford, Oxford University Press 1999) p. 13Google Scholar: ‘An authorisation, thus, may represent the conferring on an entity of a very limited right to exercise a power, or part there of; … It is this single characteristic of a delegation of power – the transfer of a power of discretionary decision making-that allows it to be distinguished in general terms from an authorisation.’ Also ibid., pp. 32–46; Case 9/56, Meroni & Co. Industrie Mettallurgische, S.A.S. v. High Authority of the European Coal and Steal Community [1958] ECR 133, 152; Case 22/70, Commission v. Council (ERTA) [1971] ECR 263.

28. ‘Reparations for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations’, ICJ Rep. (1949) p. 174, at p. 182Google Scholar. See also Dissenting Opinion by Judge Hackworth according to which ‘… the Organisation is one of delegated and enumerated powers. It is to be presumed that such powers as the member States desired to confer upon it are stated either in the Charter of in complementary agreements concluded by them. Powers not expressed cannot freely be implied. Implied powers flow from a grant of expressed powers, and are limited to those that are “necessary” to the exercise of the powers expressly granted.’ Ibid., at p. 198; Rama-Montaldo, M., ‘International Legal Personality and Implied Powers of International Organisations’, BYIL (1970) p. 111, at pp. 129–131Google Scholar; Sloan, B., ‘The United Nations Charter as a Constitution’, 1 Pace YBIL (1961), p. 61Google Scholar. ‘Szasz, P.C., ‘Centralised and Decentralised Law Enforcement: The Security Council and the General Assembly Acting Under Chapters VII and VIII’, in Delbrück, J., Allocation of Law Enforcement Authority in the International System, (Berlin, Duncker & Humblot 1995) p. 17, at p. 30Google Scholar; Skubiszewski, K., ‘Implied Powers of International Organisations’, in Dinstein, Y., ed., International Law in Times of Perplexity: Essays in Honour of Shabtai Rosenne, (Dordrecht, M. Nijhoff 1989) p. 855Google Scholar; Arangio-Ruiz, G., ‘The “Federal Analogy” and the UN Charter Interpretation: A Critical Issue’, 8 EJIL (1997) p. 1, at pp. 16–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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30. Dissenting opinion by Judge Winiarski, in ibid., at p. 230: ‘The Charter has set forth the purposes of the United Nations in very wide, and for that reason too indefinite terms. The fact that an organ of the United Nations is seeking to achieve one of those purposes does not suffice to render its action lawful. The Charter … carefully created organs and determined their competence and means of action. The intention of those who drafted it was clearly to abandon the possibility of useful action rather than to sacrifice the balance of carefully established fields of competence, as can be seen for example in the case of the voting in the Security Council …’. Goodrich, L.M., Hambro, E. and Simons, A.P., Charter of the United Nations: Commentary and Documents, 3rd rev. edn. (New York, Columbia University Press 1969) at pp. 314–317.Google Scholar

31. It has been decided in another case that ‘… the competence of the Organisation therefore should not be extended by interpretation. There may be some force in this argument, but the question in every case must resolve itself into what the terms of the Treaty actually mean, and it is from this point of view that the Court proposes to examine the question’. ‘Competence of the International Labour Organisation with respect to Agricultural Production’, Advisory Opinion of 12 August 1922, PCIJ Series B, Nos. 2 and 3, p. 23. ‘Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa on Namibia (South West Africa) Notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970)’, ICJ Rep. (1971) p. 2, at p. 52, para. 110Google Scholar: ‘… members have conferred upon the Security Council powers commensurate with its responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security’.

32. Arts. 2(4), 24, 39–42 UN Charter.

33. Art. 25 UN Charter.

34. See ‘Dissenting Opinion of Judge Spender in Certain Expenses of the United Nations’, ICJ Rep. (1962) p. 150, at p. 197Google Scholar; Koskenniemi, M., ‘The Police in the Temple: Order, Justice and the UN: a dialectical view’, 6 EJIL (1995) p. 325, at p. 327CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bothe, M., ‘Les limites des pouvoirs du Conseil de securité’, in Dupuy, R.-J., ed, The Development of the Role of the Security Council (Dordrecht, Martinus Nijhoff 1993) p. 67, at p. 73.Google Scholar

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37. When the SC authorises the use of force, it customary employs the term ‘all necessary means’. See for example Resolution 678 (1990) and more recently in Resolution 1464 (2003) in relation to Côte d'Ivoire. On a previous occasion, the British government maintained that ‘Resolution 949 does not as such authorise the use of force’ by threatening Iraq with serious consequences. BYIL (1995) p. 727. During the adoption of Resolution 1441 Mr Negroponte, US Representative to the United Nations declared ‘[t]his resolution contains no “hidden triggers” and no “automaticity” with respect to the use of force’; See also the statement by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, British Representative ‘[t]here is no “automaticity” in this resolution. If there is a further Iraqi breach of its disarmament obligations, the matter will return to the Council for discussion as required in paragraph 12. We would expect the Security Council then to meet its responsibilities.’ S/PV.4644.

38. See for instance in relation to Iraq SC Res. 1154 (1998) and SC Res. 1204 (1998). For the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the ‘US should consult the Security Council before military strikes take place’ whereas according to the US it ‘did not preclude the unilateral use of force’. Keesings (1998) at p. 42163. On 16–20 December 1998, the US and UK forces carried out air strikes on Iraqi military facilities. Keesings (1998) at p. 42697; Torrelli, M., ‘Le nouveau défi iraqien à la communauté internationale: la dialectique des volontés’, 102 RGDIP (1998) p. 435.Google Scholar

39. Quigley, J., ‘The “Privatisation” of Security Council Enforcement Action: A Threat to Multilaterism’, 17 Michigan JIL (1996) p. 249Google Scholar. In his Supplement to Agenda for Peace (1995) Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former UN Secretary-General, recognises the benefits and drawbacks of such process. As he wrote ‘The experience of the last few years has demonstrated both the value that can be gained and the difficulties that can arise when the Security Council entrusts enforcement tasks to groups of Member States. On the positive side, this arrangement provides the Organisation with an enforcement capacity it would not otherwise have and is greatly preferable to the unilateral use of force by Member States without reference tot eh United Nations. On the other hand, the arrangement can have a negative impact on the Organisation's stature and credibility. There is also the danger that the States concerned may claim international legitimacy and approval for forceful actions that were not in fact envisaged by the Security Council when it gave its authorisation to them.’ Ibid., para. 80.

40. Corten, O. and Dubuisson, F., ‘L'hypothèse d'une règie émergente fondant une intervention militaire sur une “autorisation implicite” du conseil de sécurité’, RGDIP (2000) p. 873.Google Scholar

41. SC Res. 1199 (1998); SC Res. 1203 (1998).

42. Caron, D.D., ‘The Legitimacy of the Collective Authority of the Security Council’, 87 AJIL (1993) p. 552CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lobel, J. and Ratner, M., ‘Bypassing the Security Council: Ambiguous Authorisations to Use Force, Cease-fires and the Iraqi Inspection Regime’, 93 AJIL (1999) p. 124, at pp. 133–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

43. ‘Where a particular proposal has been considered but rejected, for whatever reason, it is not possible to interpret the instrument or judicial situation to which the proposal related as if the latter had in face been adopted.’ Dissenting Opinion of Judge Fitzmaurice in ‘Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa on Namibia (South West Africa) Notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970)’, ICJ Rep. (1971) p. 2, at p. 275.Google Scholar

44. ‘Case Concerning the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project’, ICJ Rep. (1997) p. 53, para.75Google Scholar; Separate Opinion of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht in ‘Admissibility of Hearings of Petitioners by the Committee on South West Africa’, ICJ Rep. (1956) p. 46Google Scholar: ‘It is a sound principle of law that whenever a legal instrument of continuing validity cannot be applied literally owing to the conduct of one of the parties, it must, without allowing that party to take advantage of its own conduct, be applied in a way approximating most closely to its primary object. To do that is to interpret and to give effect to the instrument – not to change it.’

45. As the ICJ said ‘even if such principle [approximate application] existed, it could by definition only be employed within the limits of the treaty in question’. ‘Case Concerning the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project’, ICJ Rep. (1997) p. 53, para 76.Google Scholar

46. Meeker, L., ‘Defensive Quarantine and the Law’, 57 AJIL (1963) p. 515, at pp. 520–523CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Akehurst, M., ‘Enforcement Action by Regional Agencies, with special reference to OAS’, BYIL (1967) p. 175, at p. 217.Google Scholar

47. SC Res. 1244 (1999) in relation to Kosovo. SC Res. 1483 (2003) recognised the US and UK as occupying powers in Iraq. See also SC Res. 1511 (2003) in relation to Iraq. For other cases, see SC Res. 788 (1992) that commended the ECOWAS action in Liberia.

48. ‘… this resolution [1441] does not constrain any Member State from acting to defend itself against the threat posed by Iraq or to enforce relevant United Nations resolutions and protect world peace and security’. Statement by Mr Negroponte, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations, S/PV. 4644 (8 November 2002).

49. A/57/PV.2, p. 10.

50. South West Africa cases (Ethiopia v. South Africa, Liberia v. South Africa), ICJ Rep. (1966) p. 4, at p. 29, para 33: ‘But no right was reserved to them, individually as States, and independently of their participation in the institutional activities of the League, as component parts of it, to claim in their own name,-still less as agents authorised to represent the League,-the right to invigilate the sacred trust,-to set themselves up as separate custodians of the various mandates. This was the role of the League organs.’ ‘Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa on Namibia (South West Africa) Notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970)’, ICJ Rep. (1971) p. 2, at p. 55, para. 120Google Scholar. Although the suspension of offensive combat operations was in the first place agreed between the government of Kuwait, the member-states cooperating with Kuwait and Iraq, the issue was taken up by the Security Council through Resolutions 686 and 687. ‘Reparations for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations’, ICJ Rep. (1949) p. 174, at p. 179.Google Scholar

51. According to the UN Secretary General ‘this is an issue not for any State alone, but for the international community as a whole.’ UN Press Release SG/SM/8600 at <http://www.un.org>. Gowlland-Debbas, V., ‘The Limits of Unilateral Enforcement of Community Objectives in the Framework of UN Peace Maintenance’, 11 EJIL (2000) p. 361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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53. Denis, C., ‘La resolution 678 (1990) peut-elle legitimer les actions armies menees contre l'Iraq posterieurement a l'adoption de la resolution 687 (1991)?’, Rev. Belge de droit International (1998) p. 485, at p. 519Google Scholar: ‘Si le Conseil de sécurité adoptait une résolution par laquelle il autorise des états a recourir a la force de façon indéterminée ratione temporis or ratione materiae, d'une part, ce dernier abandonnerait les responsabilités qui lui ont été conférées par la Charte puisqu'il n'exercerait plus de contrôle sur les ou sur les actions armées enterprise(s) et, de l'autre, il irait à l'encontre du principe de l'interdiction de l'emploi de la force dans les relations internationales en permettant ainsi que, dans certains cas, les Etats soient en situation de con flit permanent.’

54. ‘The language of a resolution of the Security Council should be carefully analysed before a conclusion can be made as to its binding effect. In view of the nature of the powers under Article 25, the question whether they have been in fact exercised is to be determined in each case, having regard to the terms of the resolution to be interpreted, the discussions leading to it, the Charter provisions invoked and, in general, all circumstances that might assist in determining the legal consequences of the resolution of the Security Council. ‘Legal Consequences for States f the Continued Presence of South Africa on Namibia (South West Africa) Notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970)’, ICJ Rep. (1971) p. 2, at p. 53, para. 114.Google Scholar

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65. Dinstein, op. cit. n. 59, at pp. 169–173; Case Concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua, ICJ Rep. (1986) p. 14 (hereinafter referred to as Nicaragua case) paras. 194–195, 210–211, 247–249.

66. In the Nicaragua case, the ICJ distinguished between ‘grave forms of the use of force’, those constituting an armed attack, from other, less grave forms, that may justify ‘proportionate countermeasures’ by the victim state. Nicaragua case, paras. 247–249. Even in such a case, according to Article 48 of the ILC's Articles on State Responsibility, third states can invoke the responsibility of the breaching state for erga omnes or jus cogens obligations only, whereas their right to take countermeasures either individually or collectively is disputed. The use of force is always impermissible. Crawford, J., International Law Commission's Articles on State Responsibility: Introduction, Text and Commentaries (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2002) at pp. 302–305.Google Scholar

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71. Nicaragua case, para. 195; Simma, ed., op. cit. n. 13, at pp. 803 et seq.

72. Nicaragua case, para. 193.

73. Nicaragua case, para. 249.

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75. In relation to the Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 see UN Doc. S/PV.2280 (1981); Beres, L.R., ‘Israel and Anticipatory Self-Defence’, 8 Arizona JI & Comp. L (1991) p. 89Google Scholar. The Security Council condemned the Israeli action as ‘clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct.’ SC Res. 487 (1991). Israel has also justified the Six Day War (1967) on the basis of self-defence. UN Doc. S/PV. 1348(1967).

76. Pre-emptive self-defence is distinguished from anticipatory self-defence because the latter requires an imminent attack. Pre-emptive self-defence sometimes is called preventive self-defence. See Dinstein, op. cit. n. 59, at p. 168.

77. In relation to Iraq, see ‘Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of the British Government’, <www.official-documents.co.uk/document/reps/iraq/cover.htm>. Of course intelligence proved to be inflated and inaccurate and probably used to justify the political aims of the coalition. This led the US Weapons Hunter in Iraq, Mr Kay, to say ‘if you cannot rely on good, accurate intelligence that is credible to the American people and to others abroad, you certainly can't have a policy of pre-emption. Pristine intelligence is a fundamental bench stone for any policy of pre-emption to even be thought about’, The Times (22 November 2003).

78. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, (September 2002) p. 15 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.pdf>.

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80. de Vattel, E., Le Droit Des Gens ou Principes de la Loi Naturelle, appliqués à la Conduite et aux Affaires des Nations et des Souverains, translation Fenwick, C.G. (Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington 1916)Google Scholar in Classics of International Law, Bk I, ch. II, para 16; Bonfils, H., Manuel de droit international public, 6th edn. (Paris, A Rousseau 1912) para. 242, p. 143Google Scholar: ‘Un état a incontestablement le droit de prendre toutes les mesures destinée a garantir son existence contre les dangers qui la menacent. La conversation de soi-même est un devoir pour les Etats. Il est presque puéril de le constater.’

81. Fiore, P., Nouveau droit international public tome premier, translation from Italian by Pradier-Fodéré, P. (Paris, Auguste Durand et Pedone-Lauriel 1868) p. 261Google Scholar: ‘Toutes les nations ont non seulement le droit de se perfectionner et de s'agrandir, mais encore celui de se conserver, car la conservation est la base fondamentale qui assure le progrès et favorise les développements de la civilisation. Le droit de conservation implique d'autres droit secondares; parmi ceux-ci, non seulement est compris le droit de repousser toute attaque extérieure contre sa propre conservation, d'ou naît le droit de légitime défense, mais encore celui d’éloigner et de repousser toutes les conditions qui pourraient nuire a sa propre conservation et empêcher le propre perfectionnement.’ Giraud, E., ‘La Théorie de la légitime défense’, 49 Hague Receuil (1934) p. 687, at pp. 738–739Google Scholar: ‘Les états ont le droit et le devoir d'assurer leur conversation et leur développement. La sauvegarde de ces intérêts justifie alors le recours a la force, alors même que l’état n'est victime d'aucune agression, ou n'est pas sous unemenace actuelle d'agression’.

82. ‘Tout état, en vertu de son existence même, a le droit d'exister, de se maintenir, de se développer. Ce droit, qu'on appelle le droit de conservation, est le premier des droits des Etats et le plus absolu. C'est le droit essentiel par excellence. Rivier, A., Principes du Droit des Gens, Vol. 1 (Paris, A. Rousseau 1896) p. 255.Google Scholar

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84. Rivier, op. cit. n. 82, at p. 398: ‘L'Etat en danger est seul appréciateur de ce qui le concerne; son droit d'indépendance s'oppose a tout contrôle que d'autres prétendraient exercer a son égard.’ Abram Chayes, Legal Adviser to the State Department criticised such interpretation of self-defence in relation to the Cuban Missile Crisis: ‘To accept that reading is to make the occasion for forceful response essentially a question for unilateral national decision that would not only be formally unreviewable, but not subject to intelligent criticism either. There is simply no standard against which this decision could be judged …. In this sense, I believe that an Article 51 defence would have signalled that the United States did not take the legal issues involved very seriously, that in its view the situation was to be governed by national discretion, not international law.’ Chayes, A., The Cuban Missile Crisis (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1974) p. 63.Google Scholar

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86. See criticism by the UN Secretary-General: ‘Rather than wait for that [attack] to happen, they argue, States have the right and obligation to use force pre-emptively … they reserve the right to act unilaterally, or in ad hoc coalition. This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however, imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last fifty-eight years.’ ‘Pre-emption must be considered responsibly, on a case by case basis, but it remains one aspect of every government's duty to protect its people.’ Sofaer, A.D., ‘On the Necessity of Pre-emption’, 14 EJIL (2003).p. 209, p. 226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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89. For a defence of a selective and, consequently, effective collective security system see Murphy, S. D., ‘The Security Council, Legitimacy, and the Concept of Collective Security After the Cold War’, 32 Columbia J Transn. L (1994) p. 201, at pp. 258–260Google Scholar. As he says ‘… the major powers must be permitted to bring into the process those matters they consider vital to their own interests and to push for those matters to be addressed in a satisfactory manner. … the system should not aspire to treating all threats to the peace equally through automatic and reliable responses’.

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94. ‘Statement by the Attorney General’, supra n. 21.

95. GA Res. 377 (1950) [Uniting for Peace].

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102. ‘Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration’, Report of the Secretary-General, A/58/323 (2 September 2003) para. 12.

103. See also ‘Independent International Commission on Kosovo, The Kosovo Report: Conflict, International Response, Lessons Learned’ (2002) particularly pp. 185–198 where NATO's action is characterised as illegal but legitimate.Google Scholar

104. UN Press release SG/SM/8600, ‘Secretary General Says United Nations Has Duty to Exhaust All Possibilities of Peaceful Settlement Before Resorting to Use of Force’ (10 February 2003). <http://www.un.org>. According to the UN S-G Kofi Annan ‘if the military action is to take place without the support of the Council, its legitimacy will be questioned’. Keesings (2003) p. 45315, 45317–453178.Google Scholar

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106. ‘But it is not enough to denounce unilaterism, unless we also face up squarely to the concerns that make some States feel uniquely vulnerable, since it is those concerns that drive them to take unilateral action. We must show that those concerns can, and will, be addressed effectively through collective action.’ ‘Secretary-General's Address to the General Assembly’ (23 September 2003)Google Scholar <www.un.org>.

107. Habermas, J., Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy, translated by Rehg, W. (CambridgeMA, MIT Press 1996) p. 119.Google Scholar

108. ‘In particular, the ability of the Security Council to garner the widest possible support for its decisions and its actions will be enhanced if it is perceived to be broadly representative of the international community as a whole as well as the geopolitical realities of the contemporary world. I hope, therefore, that Member States will redouble their efforts to reach agreement on the enlargement of the Security Council.’ ‘Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, Report of the Secretary-General’, A/58/323 (2 September 2003) para. 15.

109. Habermas, op. cit. n. 107, at p. 228: ‘The essential intention we connect with the practice of argumentation is characterised by the intention of winning the assent of a universal audience to a problematic proposition in a non-coercive but regulated contest for the better arguments based on the best information and reasons. It is easy to see why the discourse principle requires this kind of practice for the justification of norms and value decisions: whether norms and values could find the rationally motivated assent of all these affected can be judged only from the intersubjectively enlarged perspective of the first-person plural. This perspective integrates the perspectives of each participant's worldview and self-understanding in a manner that is neither coercive nor distorting.’

110. Discussing a common security agenda, the UN Secretary-General observed ‘[t]his can only be achieved if States, in pursuing their national interests, show understanding and respect for global realities and the needs of others.’ ‘Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration’, Report of the Secretary-General, A/58/323 (2 September 2003) para. 12.

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