Ruthlessly Bush - Part 2

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, originally uploaded by Wazdat!.

The Benchmark of Moral Turpitude

BBC News Thursday, 24 March, 2005, 10:22 GMT:

"Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser to the Foreign Office, resigned in March 2003 because she did not believe the war with Iraq was legal. Her letter was released by the Foreign Office to the BBC News website under the Freedom of Information Act.

A minute dated 18 March 2003 from Elizabeth Wilmshurst (Deputy Legal Adviser) to Michael Wood (The Legal Adviser), copied to the Private Secretary, the Private Secretary to the Permanent Under-Secretary, Alan Charlton (Director Personnel) and Andrew Patrick (Press Office):

1. I regret that I cannot agree that it is lawful to use force against Iraq without a second Security Council resolution to revive the authorisation given in SCR 678. I do not need to set out my reasoning; you are aware of it.
[The following italicised section was removed by the Foreign Office but later obtained by Channel 4 News]
My views accord with the advice that has been given consistently in this office before and after the adoption of UN security council resolution 1441 and with what the attorney general gave us to understand was his view prior to his letter of 7 March. (The view expressed in that letter has of course changed again into what is now the official line.)
I cannot in conscience go along with advice - within the Office or to the public or Parliament - which asserts the legitimacy of military action without such a resolution, particularly since an unlawful use of force on such a scale amounts to the crime of aggression; nor can I agree with such action in circumstances which are so detrimental to the international order and the rule of law.
2. I therefore need to leave the Office: my views on the legitimacy of the action in Iraq would not make it possible for me to continue my role as a Deputy Legal Adviser or my work more generally.
For example in the context of the International Criminal Court, negotiations on the crime of aggression begin again this year.
I am therefore discussing with Alan Charlton whether I may take approved early retirement. In case that is not possible this letter should be taken as constituting notice of my resignation.
3. I joined the Office in 1974. It has been a privilege to work here. I leave with very great sadness"



From Elizabeth Wilmshurst's Resume:


"Expertise
International Law:

the use of force
international criminal law including the international criminal court
the law of the United Nations and its organs
consular and diplomatic law
State and sovereign immunity
international humanitarian law."


"Academic and Professional Experience

2003-Date Visiting Professor, University College, London University
1999-Apr 2003 Deputy Legal Adviser, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
1994-1999 Legal Counsellor at United Kingdom Misson to the United Nations, New York, then in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
1990-1994 Legal Counsellor, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
1986-1990 Assistant Legal Adviser, then Legal Counsellor, Attorney General's Office
1974-1986 Assistant Legal Adviser, then Legal Counsellor at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1972 Lecturer, Bristol University"