header-logo header-logo

Lessons from Chilcot

05 August 2016 / Richard Harrison
Issue: 7710 / Categories: Features
printer mail-detail
nlj_7710_harrison

Richard Harrison reflects on how an instructing solicitor would have interpreted Lord Goldsmith’s opinion on the legality of the Iraq war

The Chilcot Report is damning. It specifically did not conclude that the war was unlawful, but it concluded that the circumstances in which it was decided that there was a legal basis for UK military action were “far from satisfactory”. So it is worth reflecting on its conclusions about the advice received by the government to justify the legality of going to war.

As a commercial litigation solicitor, I am used to obtaining and deploying the opinions of suitably chosen and properly instructed barristers. I am used to assisting clients come to a decision based on the terms in which those opinions are expressed. The government was required to do the same thing with the advice of its chief legal adviser the attorney-general, Lord Goldsmith QC. What therefore should have been made of Lord Goldsmith’s opinion on the legality of the Iraq war?

7 March

The “advice” dated 7 March 2003, was originally released under

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll