The Legal Power to Launch War: Who Decides?

Administrative / Constitutional Law

The Legal Power to Launch War: Who Decides?

By Michael Head
Routledge December 2018

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781138292086
Publisher
Routledge
Publication
December 2018
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

The issue of who has the power to declare war or authorise military action in a democracy has become a major legal and political issue, internationally, and is set to become even more pertinent in the immediate future, particularly in the wake of military action in Syria, ongoing wars in the Middle East, and tense discussions between the US, its allies, Russia, and China.

This book comparatively examines the executive and prerogative powers to declare war or launch military action, focusing primarily on the US, UK, and Australia. It explores key legal and constitutional questions, including:

  • Who currently has the power/authority to declare war?
  • Who currently has the power to launch military action without formally declaring war?
  • How, if at all, can those powers be controlled, legally or politically?
  • What are the domestic legal consequences of going to war?
In addition to probing the extensive domestic legal consequences of going to war, the book also reviews various proposals that have been advanced for interrogating the power to commence armed conflict, and explores the reasons why these propositions have failed to win support within the political establishment.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: What is at stake?
Chapter 1: War and democracy
Chapter 2: Vietnam, Iraq and the ‘war on terror’: Deception, war propaganda and legislative approval
Chapter 3: Increasingly unrestrained war powers in the United States: from Truman to Trump
Chapter 4: Britain’s royal war prerogative reasserted and reinforced
Chapter 5: From Whitehall to the White House: The war power in Australia—from legal subordination to political subservience
Chapter 6: The failure of reform proposals: An Australian case study
Chapter 7: War and dissent: sweeping domestic powers
Chapter 8: Contemporary preparations for wartime measures
Chapter 9: Martial law, official lawlessness and judicial complicity
Chapter 10: Can international law stop wars of aggression?
Chapter 11: Would referenda provide any alternative?
Chapter 12: Conclusions
Index
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