Was the War on Iraq Illegal? – The German Federal Administrative Court's Judgement of 21st June 2005
Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: The US/UK-led war against Iraq, and Germany's contribution to this war, met withgravierenden völkerrechtlichen Bedenken(grave concerns in terms of international law), as evidenced by the extensive judgement of theBundesverwaltungsgericht(BVerwG – German Federal Administrative Court) from 21 June 2005. This is a landmark decision in at least two respects. First, it appears that the BVerwG's opinion is the first on the legality of the war on Iraq by a court of law. Second, the Court took a broad view regarding the question of law with which it had been presented: under what circumstances may an army officer lawfully refuse to follow the order of a superior on the grounds of his constitutional right to freedom of conscience?
Source: German Law Journal
Author: Nikolaus Schultz
Institution: Helmut Schmidt University
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W239309922