UK Supreme Court Delivers Judgment for Cases involving the UK in Peacekeeping Operations

On January 17, 2017, the UK Supreme Court delivered a set of connecting judgments in Al-Waheed and Serdar Mohammed. This lengthy judgment (151 pages) is one of three being given simultaneously on the liabilities of the United Kingdom government for allegedly tortious acts done by HM Forces in the course of operations overseas or by foreign governments in which UK officials are alleged to have been complicit.This particular judgment deals with allegations that persons in Iraq and Afghanistan were unlawfully detained in breach of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) by HM forces engaged in peacekeeping operations in those countries under mandates from the United Nations Security Council.