Instead, he said, it was simply a legal ruling on the deputy's position.

A tangle of legal rulings followed over the next several years.

It issued 1,115 reports and 4,200 legal rulings last year.

These findings are only a first step, and any legal ruling by the judge could well be overturned on appeal.

Blair said he always knew it was possible that a legal ruling could stop Britain going to war.

That can't be a sensible ground for a legal ruling.

"I better get a legal ruling on it," the Deputy said.

This status, however, has been challenged by a number of legal rulings in the last few years.

Sometimes it takes a legal ruling to determine what's acceptable.

However, some advocates believed that the legal ruling would have little effect.