Arresting Howard is probably not a good idea, since an arrest has to be made based on domestic law. Unfortunately it appears that aggressive war has not yet been criminalised under Australian law, partly due to problems in agreeing on a definition for the purposes of the International Criminal Court Statute, and there needs to be a crime against Australian law to make an arrest. That doesn't mean there is no crime under international law - it is just that there are two sets of law, and something you do can breach one even though it doesn't breach the other.

Even if you identify a specific domestic law, you have to be able to show that the arrest was necessary to ensure his attendance before a magistrate, otherwise it's false imprisonment (yes, I know this means that there are false imprisonments going on regularly).

There are however other areas where Howard might be challenged in the courts. It's probably too late now, but in January last year it may have been possible to seek an order of prohibition in the High Court. There is an argument that, although Howard claims the power to send troops to war is vested in the executive, the power to send them to an aggressive war is spent by a combination of changes to international law and domestic implementation of that law. For instance, the Iraq war was clearly contrary to Article 2(3) of the United Nations Charter, which was 'Approved' by the Parliament in the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 (Cth). While that Act does not make the United Nations Charter into domestic law, that does not necessarily mean it can have no effect on the prerogative powers of the Crown. This is a fairly complex question that involves arguing that the power to wage an aggressive war only exists in the Crown as a part of common law derived from international law.

It's too late now for Iraq, but this is something to bear in mind in the event that Howard gets back in and goes off with Bush to wage another aggressive war. It might at least provide an opportunity to air some of the issues in open court, even if the chances of success are slim.

NHJ! (JR): Thanks again, mate. Tireless (dunno where you find the time to campaign...)