The legality of airstrikes against Syria Presentation: Ayaan Hersi

Syria: US, UK and France launch strikes in response to chemical attack On the 14 April 2018, the United States, France and United Kingdom launched military strikes aimed at reducing Syrian regimes chemical weapons facilities. They claimed that it was in response to the Douma chemical attack against civilians on 7 April, which they attributed to the Assad Syrian government,

What was their legal basis for the use of force? The US and France failed to put forward any legal argument as to the source of their authority to act under the UN Charter system of the prohibition on the use of force. They avoided the legality of language The UK, which, unlike it’s allies, did articulate a clear legal basis for its use of force.The UK government states that “The legal basis for the use of force is humanitarian intervention...” and then set three conditions for such use of force.

Three conditions; Convincing evidence, generally accepted by the international community as a whole, of extreme humanitarian distress on a large scale, requiring immediate and urgent relief; It must be objectively clear that there is no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved ; and The proposed use of force must be necessary and proportionate to the aim of relief of humanitarian suffering and must be strictly limited in time and in scope to this aim(i.e the minimum necessary to achieve that end for no other purpose)

Condition 1

Condition 2

Condition 3

Is the UK's justification valid under international law? The position taken by the government is significantly flawed. The military action was not in accordance with the United Nations Charter and international law. Art.2(4) UN Charter: prohibits the threats or use force by states against other states. The ICJ held that the prohibition of the use of force is also a principle of customary international law (Nicaragua Case 1986). Two exceptions to the prohibition of use of force under the United Nations Charter.

Exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force Art. 51: states may use force in individual or collective self- defence Chapter VII: force may also be authorized by the year UN Security Council to maintain international peace and security. Use of force on the territory of a state that is consented to by the government of that state will not be in breach of the prohibition of the use of force.