Supreme Court rules Iraqis have left it too late to sue MoD over ‘abuses’

MORE than 600 Iraqi civilians attempting to sue the British military for wrongful detention and mistreatment have had their claims blocked in a Supreme Court judgment.

The court ruled that they had waited too long to bring their legal claims, in a victory for the Ministry of Defence.

Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, who has previously criticised “ambulance-chasing” lawyers for a deluge of claims against the MoD, called the ruling a “big step” toward bringing to an end years of litigation ensuing from the Iraq war.

“There is a pernicious industry trying to profit from dubious claims lodged against our Armed Forces years after the alleged incidents,” said Mr Fallon. “We are determined to tackle it and this judgment, which will save the taxpayer millions, is a big step in the right direction.”

The claims, alleging that the human rights of the Iraqis had been breached, were lodged in the High Court in London in 2013, a decade after the beginning of the Iraq war. The Iraqis were given the go-ahead to sue in the UK but were then blocked by the Court of Appeal – a decision now upheld by the Supreme Court.

The MoD has so far paid out almost £20 million in damages in 324 cases. The ruling puts in serious jeopardy any future payouts in more than 600 cases still to be determined by the courts.

These concern allegations by Iraqi citizens that they suffered unlawful detention or physical mistreatment at the hands of British personnel in Iraq between 2003 and 2009.

The Court of Appeal had ruled the cases were prevented from going ahead because of a time bar imposed under Iraqi law. Although begun in England, all the cases are governed by Iraqi law.

Lord Sumption, one of the panel of five Supreme Court justices, said a substantial number of the cases were timebarred in Iraq because of the three-year limitation period imposed by the Iraqi Civil Code. Lawyers for the Iraqi civilians had claimed Iraqi law allowed the three-year limitation period to be suspended because the UK forces had immunity from being sued in Iraq.

The legal firm acting for the claimants, Leigh Day, was referred to the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal in January over complaints they touted for Iraqi clients. The law firm strenuously denies the claim and insists it is the victim of a politically motivated smear.

The firm said yesterday the ruling had put a “hurdle” in its path but not derailed the legal actions. Leigh Day is planning to bring two test cases this summer but must now persuade a High Court judge there is a compelling reason why they were not brought earlier.

A spokesman for Leigh Day said it remained “confident in the merits of the test cases”. The spokesman added: “Today’s technical judgment creates an additional hurdle for the claimants to overcome in seeking justice for their treatment, but does not of itself deny them access to the UK courts.”