ABSTRACT
As an original signatory of the United Nations Charter 1945 and as a permanent member of the Security Council, the UK is committed to the orderly and lawful conduct of foreign relations.109 In these circumstances, transactions that seek to undermine friendly relations with other powers may be unenforceable.110 Contracts that involve trading with an alien enemy111 will be unenforceable, regardless of the law of the contract. In time of hostilities, the emphasis is upon the primary duty of a British national or a British based corporation not to do anything directly or indirectly to aid the enemies of the Crown; there is authority for the view that all considerations of private international law must yield to this imperative.112
