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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

YOU WONT BELIEVE: Un charter reminder for the attorney general - What They Never Told You

Cabinet Meeting in Downing Street in LondonLONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - JANUARY 06, 2025: Attorney General Richard Hermer arrives in Downing Street to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting in London, United Kingdom on January 06, 2025. (Photo credit should read Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Richard Hermer said that in a ‘complicated and dangerous’ world, leaders should be able to use ‘statecraft’ to consider other factors when establishing whether to hold allies to account. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

One of my former UN bosses, María Fernanda Espinosa, made a point of sending a copy of the UN charter to the permanent representative of each member state on her election as president of the UN general assembly, by way of reminding them of their binding commitments.

As she now intends to stand for election as the first female secretary general of that much-maligned organisation, perhaps it might be the time to consider doing the same again? Certainly Donald Trump, who has told us that his own personal morality and very big brain take precedence over international law, could do with a copy, as could Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, as the latter pair continue to dodge international arrest warrants.

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