Attorney General silent on whether war breaks law

Only the sound of pins dropping can be heard in the busy offices of the Government's most senior legal adviser. Such is the sensitivity surrounding the Attorney General's advice on the legal case for and against war with Iraq that all enquiries to his chambers are being met with a diplomatic silence.

Even the shadow Attorney General, Bill Cash, cannot loosen Lord Goldsmith's tongue. Yesterday Mr Cash said he had set down a question in Parliament about the legal basis of war but had no response. He said there was plenty of precedent for an Attorney General to tell Parliament what he had advised a prime minister.

But Lord Goldsmith knows the legal status of a war against Iraq could soon be in the international and domestic courts. By publishing his advice, which will include both sides of the argument, he would be giving valuable succour to lawyers instructed by those who want to make Tony Blair and his Government pay for the war.

Human rights groups may pursue the Government for war crimes and international businesses may claim compensation for financial loss caused by an illegal invasion of Iraq. International lawyers say international law transcends national boundaries so these kind of claims could quickly wash up on the shores of the British legal system.

The House of Lords has already considered just such a case from the last Gulf War, settling a compensation claim brought after Iraq illegally appropriated Kuwait's national airline in the 1991 invasion. Philippe Sands, a leading international barrister and a professor of law at University College London, said yesterday this case showed UK courts had the power to accept jurisdiction for war claims.

If so, the consequences of an illegal war will not be limited to academic arguments, put before the International Court of Justice, about whether United Nation's Resolution 1441 authorises the use of force. Instead judges in the High Court in London may have to consider whether the Government is liable for "any foreseeable damage" from invasion of Iraq. Ministers might have to counter alleged breaches of the Geneva Convention international conventions on human rights.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, has said he does not believe 1441 sets out a precondition for war. Mr Blair has said the Government "would not do anything as a country that did not have a legal basis" but will not let his Attorney General explain what this might be.

Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII, paid with his life when his silence was interrupted as outright defiance. Lawyers believe Lord Goldsmith's silence is of the other kind and no less important.