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The Case for Humanitarian intervention in Syria: The UK Government Legal Position
(Prime Minister's Office-UK) The UK government published a document on Thursday presenting its position regarding the legality of military action in Syria following the chemical weapons attack in eastern Damascus. "The use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime is a serious crime of international concern, as a breach of the customary international law prohibition on use of chemical weapons, and amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity." "However, the legal basis for military action would be humanitarian intervention; the aim is to relieve humanitarian suffering by deterring or disrupting the further use of chemical weapons." "If action in the [UN] Security Council is blocked, the UK would still be permitted under international law to take exceptional measures in order to alleviate the scale of the overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe in Syria by deterring and disrupting the further use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime." Under the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, three conditions must be met. "All three conditions would clearly be met in this case."