Forty members of the House of Lords, including some of the UK’s leading legal minds, have suggested the move may violate a 1933 treaty setting out the conditions for nationhood
July 31, 2025 11:17
The UK’s threat to recognise a Palestinian state may be a breach of international law, according to a group of senior lawyers.
A letter signed by 40 members of the House of Lords, including some of the UK’s most senior legal professionals, and sent to Attorney General Lord Hermer has claimed that the prospective state may breach the legal convention governing the establishment of new nations, according to The Times.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that the UK would recognise a Palestinian State at the UN General Assembly in September if Israel did not meet a number of conditions. These included the agreement of a ceasefire in Gaza and a commitment to a two-state solution.
He also condemned Hamas and called on the group to release its hostages and disarm, but did not make this a requirement for recognition to take place.
However, the peers suggested that this pledge could violate the commitment to international law that goes “absolutely to the heart” of UK foreign policy.
"We call on you to advise him [Starmer] that this would be contrary to international law,” they wrote to Hermer, adding: “You are on record as saying that a commitment to international law goes absolutely to the heart of this government and its approach to foreign policy.
“You have said that a selective ‘pick and mix’ approach to international law will lead to its disintegration, and that the criteria set out in international law should not be manipulated for reasons of political expedience.
“Accordingly, we expect you to demonstrate this commitment by explaining to the public and to the government that recognition of Palestine would be contrary to the principles governing recognition of states in international law. We look forward to your response.”
As evidence, the signatories referred to the Montevideo Convention, signed in 1933, which set out the terms for non-national bodies seeking statehood.
The treaty identified four conditions for statehood – a permanent population, a defined territory, an government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
The letter argued that the proposed Palestinian state does not have a defined territory or a single government with the capacity for diplomatic relations.
The Palestinian Territories are currently divided between the Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, and the West Bank, governed by the Palestinian Authority.
Among the letter’s signatories were former Supreme Court justice Lord Collins, leading international law barrister Lord Verdirame KC and Lord Faulks KC, a prominent human rights lawyer.
They were joined by former refugee minister Lord Harrington and the government’s erstwhile independent advisor on political violence Lord Walney, as well as former cabinet ministers Lord Pickles, Lord Lansley, Sir Michael Ellis KC and Lord Hamilton, and the ex first minister of Northern Ireland, Baroness Foster.
However, asked about the letter on Sky News Breakfast, Small Business Minister Gareth Thomas argued that the move would comply with international law as the UK was not a signatory to the Montevideo Convention.
He went on: “I respect the views of those lawyers but, in the end, recognition of a state is a political judgement.
"And we've been very clear that our judgement is that the Palestinians have an inalienable right to statehood; that now is the right time to say publicly that we will recognise the state of [Palestine] unless Israel agrees to end the appalling violence that we're seeing in Gaza at the moment, and commits to a two-state solution."
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