UK High Court: Blair cannot be prosecuted for ‘crime of aggression’

The British High Court has ruled today that former Prime Minister Tony Blair and senior members of his cabinet cannot be prosecuted for the “crime of aggression” in the invasion of Iraq in 2013.

Former Iraqi general, Abdul-Wahid Shannan ar-Ribat, wanted to prosecute Blair, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith for the invasion of Iraq.

Following last November’s decision by the Westminster Magistrates Courts not to issue summons against the former UK prime minister, ar-Ribat asked London’s High Court for permission to seek a judicial review in an attempt to get the Supreme Court, now the highest court in the land, to overturn a ruling that gave Blair immunity from prosecution over the Iraq War.

The Attorney General is reported to have intervened in the case and urged the Chief Justice to block the general’s legal challenge on the grounds that it was “hopeless” and unarguable because the crime of aggression is not recognised in English law.

Many have been campaigning for formal charges of war crimes to be brought against Blair over one of the worst foreign policy disasters in British history. They hold Blair and the US President at the time of the Iraq invasion, George Bush, personally responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and the rise of terrorism in the region.

This opinion gained further momentum following the publication of the Chilcot report which accused the UK of aggression following Blair’s decision to invade Iraq and depose Saddam Hussain over allegations of weapons of mass destruction. The Chilcot Inquiry also concluded that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and undermined the United Nations.