Roundtable Discussion: ‘The Legality of Pre-emptive Force: International Law in the US-Israel-Iran War, 30 March 2026

On 30 March 2026, Forward Thinking convened a legal roundtable alongside the Sada exhibition at Reed Smith LLP featuring Sailesh Mehta, a founding member of the Bar Human Rights Committee with extensive experience in international advocacy , and Maleeka Bokhari, an international human rights law specialist and former Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice in Pakistan. The session was chaired by Sir Max Hill, former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions. The discussion was based on the speakers' recent co-authored article for The Law Society Gazette, examining the international legal framework surrounding the escalating conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.

Maleeka Bokhari and Sailesh Mehta at the Roundtable.

The briefing focused on the core doctrines governing the use of force, specifically the legality of pre-emptive force and the thresholds for anticipatory self-defence. Drawing on their expertise in human rights and comparative legal systems , the speakers provided a rigorous analysis of the UN Charter, the Nicaragua judgment, and the "Caroline test": the historical standard requiring that the necessity for self-defence be instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation. The discussion addressed whether the justification for the recent US-Israeli strikes against Iran met these narrow legal constraints or if they constituted a "supreme international crime" as defined by the Nuremberg Tribunal.

The discussion highlighted the immense pressure currently facing the international rules-based order. The meeting was attended by a diverse group of diplomats, journalists, and legal experts.