Hundreds of Iraqi compensation claims against the MoD are thrown out: Judges overturn ruling that allowed civilians to sue over detention and mistreatment

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Hundreds of compensation claims brought by suspected Iraqi insurgents and their families against the MoD were thrown out yesterday.

In a landmark ruling three judges overturned a High Court judgment that allowed Iraqi civilians to sue over allegations of detention and mistreatment by British soldiers in Iraq years after the event.

The judges at the Court of Appeal in London ruled in the MoD’s favour and said claims could only be brought within three years of the alleged crime taking place.

Too late to sue: The judges at the Court of Appeal said claims by Iraqi civillians against UK soldiers could only be brought within three years of the alleged crime taking place

The ruling means that 612 claims, which were submitted in 2013, are no longer valid because the alleged incidents took place more than three years before the complaints were lodged.

These claims comprise by far the largest proportion of the outstanding civilian claims arising from the conflict in Iraq.

There are a possible further 234 outstanding claims that could be impacted as a result of the judgment. The majority of those are ‘stayed’, it is understood. The MoD – which has spent tens of millions of pounds on claims by Iraqi and Afghan civilians – will undertake a review of these 234 to look at the dates.

It yesterday welcomed the decision and said it would save taxpayers huge sums of money.

In a previous judgment, Mr Justice Leggatt ruled that because the claims could not be brought in Iraq, the limitation period should be suspended giving the claimants longer than three years to lodge their complaints with the British courts.

The new ruling in the MoD's favour means that 612 claims submitted in 2013 are no longer valid because the alleged incidents took place more than three years before the complaints were lodged

But yesterday three appeal judges – Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson, sitting with Lord Justice Tomlinson and Lord Justice Vos – ruled that the limitation period was not suspended. 

Under Iraqi Civilian Litigation, as it is known, many hundreds of claims have been launched in the High Court by those claiming abuses during the Iraq War.

Martyn Day, from law firm Leigh Day, which has been acting for the Iraqis using legal aid, said: ‘These cases are against the MoD, which has so far settled hundreds of claims by Iraqis who claimed they had been abused and wrongly detained during the period of British involvement in southern Iraq following the ill-fated war of 2003.

‘This judgment puts up an additional technical hurdle for the remaining Iraqis who are looking to get justice for what happened to them.’