UK Appeal Court Held Licensing Arms to Saudi Arabia Illegal

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Friday, July 19, 2019
Author: 
Michael Plachta
Volume: 
35
Issue: 
7
Abstract: 

On June 20, 2019, the UK Court of Appeal (Civil Division) delivered a judgment ruling that ministers had acted unlawfully in allowing the sale of weapons when there was a clear possibility they might be used in violation of international humanitarian law in Yemen. In this ruling, a panel of the Court of Appeal judges, including Sir Terence Etherton, the master of the rolls, Lord Justice Irwin, and Lord Justice Singh, did not strictly prohibit the government from issuing new licenses but made clear that they felt it had fallen short of its duties. Ministers had failed “in one significant respect,” the judges said, by failing to determine whether the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen had violated international law. The Lords held that the consequence of allowing an appeal on one ground will be that “the matter will be remitted to the Secretary of State to reconsider in accordance with the correct legal approach.”