Dead Letter: How the UK Government's Arms Export Policies Have Eviscerated International Humanitarian Law

by Katie Fallon and Sam Perlo-Freeman

Thursday 24th September, 6:00pm – 7:30pm.

You can register for the event using the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_luptzyRFTcWs8_rO_UuLnQ#/registration

For over a decade, the UK has continued to arm Saudi Arabia during its bombing campaign and blockade of Yemen, and Israel during its genocide in Gaza. Drawing on three court cases challenging these decisions, the report exposes how successive governments have justified these arms sales – rendering Iinternational Hhumanitarian Llaw, the Genocide Convention, and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) effectively meaningless.

Some of what the report explores:

• Disregard for legal advice. Government lawyers had privately advised ministers the UK was in breach of international law by continuing to arm Israel.
• Discarding of licensing criteria. The government stated in court that the threat to “international peace and security” from interrupting the F-35 supply chain “would have overridden any further evidence of serious breaches of IHL” – effectively meaning the F-35 supply cannot be suspended under any circumstances, despite a further admission that “there was a clear risk that Israel might commit serious violations of IHL in the conduct of hostilities in Gaza, including through the use of F-35s”
• Inadequate legal protections. The only “domestic foothold” for international treaties – the ATT, The Geneva Conventions, and The Genocide Convention – is the SELC itself; by setting aside the SELC via the F-35 carve-out, the government removed the courts’ ability to assess its compliance with international law
• The role of UK arms companies. Half the Saudi air force (RSAF) used in Yemen consisted of UK-supplied Eurofighter Typhoons – leading analysts to conclude that if the UK halted its support, “the RSAF will be grounded”. BAE Systems has received nearly £49 billion from Saudi Arabia up to 2025.
• Shifting legal interpretations. CAAT’s first judicial review against UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia succeeded – the Court of Appeal ruled in 2019 that the government’s failure to assess IHL violations was “irrational and therefore unlawful,” halting new licences for a year. The government subsequently found a new legal interpretation of the violations to resume sales and survived a second judicial review challening this in 2023

We will hear from the report’s authors alongside a panel as they explore these points and more.

Speakers:

• Katie Fallon, Advocacy Manager, CAAT (co-author)
• Khawla Alrowaishan, Director of Accountability and Redress, Mwatana for Human Rights
• Dearbhla Minogue, Legal Co-Lead, Global Legal Action Network
• Andrew Feinstein, Director, Shadow World Investigations
• Sam Perlo-Freeman, Research Coordinator, CAAT (co-author, moderator)

Register Here

We hope to see you at the launch and the following Q&A session.

Investigative research and the subsequent reports are the engine of change – holding our establishment to account, shaping policy, and applying the political and social pressure needed to prevent further complicity in war crimes and genocide.

Help CAAT continue this work and put a final end to the arms trade.

Campaign Against Arms Trade

Unit 1.9, The Green House,
244 – 254 Cambridge Heath Road,
London
E2 9DA

Tel: 020 7281 0297

Web: www.caat.org.uk

Email: [email protected]