Giles "Dealing" With Ben

[AlphaFoxtrot]

“Standing” would mean the Watcher’s Council is considered a deputy of the state, to lack standing, makes them like a bounty hunter. I would think of them as transcending the state. In a world like the Buffyverse, the most important of human endeavors is not the search for God, or any other search for meaning or knowledge, but keeping the Old Ones out. The alternative is extinction. Due process isn’t important, an individual human life isn’t important when the Elder Things are involved.

 

[Kendar]

I would argue that their decision to send three assassins to murder Faith qualifies as a stance. It was made pretty clear in the episode that they were told to take her out back and pull an “Old Yeller” by the Council.

It's a stance, yes. What I'm questioning is "Odds are, he has the right to execute dangerous supernatural criminals as part of his job duties. " It may be a duty imposed by the council, but to say he has the right implies that he has legal authority to do so. Nothing we've seen indicates that.

Edit: And even if the council had legal authority granted by England, it certainly doesn't have any such authority in the US.