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Name: Vaughan Lowe
Title: Chichele Professor of International Law
Oxford University

Position: CON to the question "Should the U.S. have attacked Iraq?"
Reasoning:

"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."

"War Would Be Illegal"
Signed by 16 European Law Professors
The Guardian, March 7, 2003
Credibility
Ranking:		  Experts
PhD's, JD's (lawyers), Judges, Members of Congress, Ambassadors, Consulate Generals, heads of government, Cabinet-level positions, military generals/admirals, members of legislative bodies with significant involvement in, or related to, the U.S.- Iraq conflict.

Involvement:
  • Chichele Professor of Public International Law, Oxford University
  • Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford University
  • Former Reader in International Law, and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge
  • Former Visiting Professor, Universities of Cardiff and Manchester
  • Former Barrister from Essex Court Chambers, London

Education: none listed

Affiliations/
Honors:
  • none listed

Contact Info:
Phone: none listed Fax: none listed
E-Mail:   none listed
Web Site: http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/members/profile.phtml?lecturer_code=lowea

Other: Select Publications:
  • "Security Concerns and National Sovereignty in the Age of World-Wide Terrorism," Towards World Constitutionalism – Issues in the Legal Ordering of the World Community, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2005
  • "Clear and Present Danger: Responses to Terrorism," International & Comparative Law Quarterly 54, Part 1, January 185-196
  • "The ITLOS Opinions of Judge Ivan Shearer," Australian Year Book of International Law 145-157
  • "The Place of Dr Thomas Baty in the International Law Studies of the 20th Century," The Commemorative Seminar for Dr Thomas Baty: Contributions of Dr Thomas Baty and Their Reappraisal/University of Tokyo
  • "Northern European Co-operation Regarding Watercourses," Watercourse Co-operation in Northern Europe/TMC Asser Press 95-118
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