Leigh Day has represented hundreds of Iraqi civilians in claims against the British Government. The claims involve allegations of assaults, unlawful detentions, inhuman and degrading treatment, torture and unlawful killings by British soldiers in Iraq between 2003 and 2010. Many of our clients have made allegations of systematic abuse against the MoD, including the use of the "five techniques" (hooding, stress postitions, exposure to noise, deprivation of food and sleep), the use of which has been expressly prohibted by Parliament in 1972. Following out of court settlements of over 320 cases between 2008 and 2014, several key legal issues in the remaining cases were decided by the English courts, including the Supreme Court, from 2014 to early 2017.
Then, in December 2017 a High Court judge delivered a landmark judgment following full trials in four test claims, finding that the claimants had been subjected by the British military to inhuman and degrading treatment and unlawful detention in breach of their rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, English law and the Geneva Conventions. All four claimants were awarded damages.
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