One of the legal questions that has arisen in the context of the intervention in Libya is the legality of arming the rebel groups fighting the Libyan regime – see for example a recent piece in the Guardian newspaper on this subject. Attention seems to be focussed on whether or not this would amount to a violation of the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1970. There is also another, more general, principle of international law that may be violated by the arming of rebels in Libya: the principle of non-intervention. Recall what the International Court…