ABSTRACT

In many ways the Iraq crisis of 2003 was the culmination of a decade of pressure by the US and UK directed at changing the legal framework governing the use of force contained in the UN Charter, in a concerted effort to widen both exceptions to the ban on the threat or use of force in Article 2(4)—namely the right of self-defense contained in Article 51—and military action taken under the authority of the Security Council derived from Article 42.