This paper examines the relationship between UK armed forces, international law and ethics in the 'war on terror.' The British armed forces have been increasingly 'juridified' over the last decade often as a result of legal claims arising from their participation in the war on terror. Claims against the UK state have arisen in areas such as the use of deadly force, detention and interrogation and even the protection of their own personnel. Whilst the state has changed its behaviour over the course of the 'war on terror' in the light of these claims other strategies have been developed which shield UK forces to an extent from international scrutiny. This paper examines the changing relationship of the UK to international law, the extent to which UK forces have fought an ethical COIN in Iraq and Afghanistan and possible futures of British intervention overseas.
