The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
“I am as
committed as anyone to international law and its obligations, but
it is an
uncertain
field. There is no international court for resolving such questions
in the
manner of a
domestic court. Moreover, in this case, the issue is an arguable
one …
I hope (for
political reasons) we can get a second resolution. But there is a
strong
case to be
made that UNSCR 678, and everything which has happened
since
(assuming
Iraq continues not to comply), provides a sufficient basis in
international
law to
justify military action.”
354.
Mr Straw
sent copies of his letter to Lord Goldsmith and to Sir David
Manning as
well as to
senior officials in the FCO.
355.
Lord
Goldsmith reminded Mr Straw of the duties of Legal Advisers
and that
the
principal mechanism for resolving an issue when a Minister
challenged the
legal
advice he or she had received was to seek an opinion from the Law
Officers.
356.
Lord Goldsmith
wrote to Mr Straw on 3 February stating that he was
not
commenting
“on the substance of the legal advice in relation to Iraq”, which
he would
“deal with
separately”, but on the points Mr Straw had made in his letter
to Mr Wood of
29 January
about the role of Government Legal Advisers. They had already
discussed
that issue,
but Lord Goldsmith thought it right to record his
views.
357.
Lord Goldsmith
wrote:
“It is
important for the Government that its lawyers give advice which
they honestly
consider to
be correct … they should give the advice they believe in, not the
advice
which they
think others want to hear. To do otherwise would undermine their
function
… in giving
independent objective and impartial advice. This is not to say …
that
lawyers
should not be positive and constructive in helping the Government
achieve
its policy
objectives through lawful means and be open-minded in considering
other
points of
view.
“But if a
Government legal adviser genuinely believes that a course of
action
would be
unlawful, then it is his or her right and duty to say so. I support
this right
regardless
of whether I agree with the substance of the advice which has
been
given.
Where a Minister challenges the legal advice he or she has
received, there
are
established mechanisms to deal with this. The principal such
mechanism is to
seek an
opinion from the Law Officers.”136
136
Minute
Goldsmith to Foreign Secretary, 3 February 2003,
[untitled].
66