"There is no justification under international law for the use of military force against Iraq. The UN charter outlaws the use of force with only two exceptions: individual or collective self-defence in response to an armed attack and action authorised by the security council as a collective response to a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression. There are currently no grounds for a claim to use such force in self-defence. The doctrine of pre-emptive self-defence against an attack that might arise at some hypothetical future time has no basis in international law. Neither security council resolution 1441 nor any prior resolution authorises the proposed use of force in the present circumstances...

A decision to undertake military action in Iraq without proper security council authorisation will seriously undermine the international rule of law. Of course, even with that authorisation, serious questions would remain. A lawful war is not necessarily a just, prudent or humanitarian war."

• Head of Department, Reader in Law, School of Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
  Expertise: Public international law, human rights (particularly economic, social and cultural rights), legal theory, public law, international institutions and processes for protection of human rights. International criminal law, territorial and boundary disputes

• Index to the British Year Book of International Law 1961-2001: Consolidated Index to Volumes 37-72, Oxford University Press, 2004