SN06493.pdf — page 35

35 Overview of military drones used by the UK armed forces 
Library Standard Note Drone attacks and the killing of Anwar al-Awlaqi: 
legal issues examines some of the legal issues raised by the killing of 
Anwar al-Awlaqi, a dual US-Yemeni citizen described as the “leader of 
external operations for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”, in a drone 
strike in Yemen in September 2011.142  
6.3 Self-defence 
The Prime Minister said the UK was exercising its inherent right to self-
defence when the Defence Secretary authorised the killing of Reyaad 
Khan in Syria on 21 August 2015 by an RAF Reaper aircraft. This is a 
reference to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.  
Self-defence, codified in Article 51 of the UN Charter, is one of the few 
accepted exceptions to international law’s general prohibition on the 
use of force. Force used in self-defence must comply with the rules of 
International Humanitarian Law, and is also subject to the principles of 
necessity and proportionality. Article 51 states: 
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of 
individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs 
against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security 
Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international 
peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of 
this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the 
Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and 
responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to 
take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to 
maintain or restore international peace and security.143  
Joint Doctrine Publication UK Defence Doctrine include a section on UK 
defence and the law. This is contained in Annex 2C and states: 
The UN Charter requires that all member states refrain from the 
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political 
independence of any other state. However, this does not restrict 
the inherent right of a state to take action in self-defence in 
response to an armed attack. Further, it may also be lawful to use 
offensive force in another state’s territory (without its consent) in 
certain circumstances – under a Chapter VII UN Security Council 
Resolution – or to prevent an overwhelming humanitarian 
catastrophe.144 
Harriet Harman, Leader of the Opposition, questioned the legal 
justification and called for independent scrutiny of the Government’s 
actions via the Intelligence and Security Committee. Lord McDonald, a 
former Director of Public Prosecutions, spoke of the need for more 
details of the timing of the decision-making process in order to 
understand whether the Reyaad Khan presented an imminent threat to 
the UK.145 The media discussed at length the legality of the action. 
Joshua Rozenberg, writing in the Guardian, concluded that on the facts 
                                                                                             
142  A. Thorp, Drone attacks and the killing of Anwar al-Awlaqi: legal issues, House of 
Commons Library Standard Note SN06165, 20 December 2011 
143  Charter of the United Nations, Article 51 
144  UK Defence Doctrine, JDP 0-01 (5th edition) para 2C.1. 
145  “Syria drone strike: former DPP questions legal justification”, The Guardian, 9 
September 2015