Cases of British military abuse on Iraqi civilians dismissed, PM questions “spurious” legal claims

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), a firm that investigates British soldiers' abuse on Iraqi civilians during the US-led invasions in the 2000s, has dropped 57 cases of unlawful killings by Britain's army during the war. Meanwhile, law firm Leigh Day pushes the notion that the British Army and the government are not above the law.

BBC reported that the decision not to proceed with the cases comes after Prime Minister David Cameron called to crack down an industry that is trying to earn from "spurious" legal claims against British military. Cameron said the Ministers had been requested to come up with plans to stop these claims. One way to curb these cases is by prohibiting the "no win, no fee" arrangements.

IHAT is tasked to investigate accusations of abuse by UK armed forces on Iraqi civilians from 2003 to 2009. It is currently investigating more than 1,300 cases of alleged abuse, ranging from low-level violence to murder.

According to RT News, Leigh Day said in a statement published in their website that "No-one is above the law, not us, not the British Army and not the Government." However, there are many prominent people in Britain who argues that firms like Leigh Day are "ambulance chasers" who are looking for a cash grab through the alleged abuse cases. The firm defended its claims saying, "Leigh Day stands full square behind the work we have been involved in over the last 10 years to assist Iraqi who have claims in relation to abuse they say they have suffered." 

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail UK wrote that the military's former chief legal adviser in Iraq, Nicholas Mercer said there are already 326 cases settled "on merit," costing £20 million or $28.5 million.

"One of the allegations is that there was systemic abuse of Iraqi prisoners after they were captured," said Mercer. "Clearly this isn't just one or two bad apples, as they have been characterised, this is on a fairly large and substantial scale."

The Ministry of Defense announced in December 2012 that it paid £15.1 million or $21.5 million to some 200 Iraqi people who claimed they were held illegally and tortured by British soldiers. Meanwhile, the government has asked the Legal Aid Agency to review whether legal aid should not be given law firms that are allegedly committing misconducts regarding the abuse claims by Iraqi civilians against British soldiers.

Tags

British Military Abuse, Abusing Iraqi civilians, British Prime Minister, David Cameron

© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.