Families win right to apply for Iraq inquiry

Public inquiry into Iraq war gets one step closer following today's ruling

Wednesday, 26, Jul 2006 12:00

The families of British soldiers killed in Iraq have today been granted permission to challenge the government's refusal to have a public inquiry into the conflict.

Their solicitor said the court of appeal's decision to allow an application for a judicial review was a "stunning victory" that would force ministers to make public all the evidence behind the decision to go to war.

In December, a court rejected their request to apply for a review of the government's decision, but today this ruling was overturned in the court of appeal.

The judges rejected ministers' arguments that allowing courts to rule on the right to go to war would be an "unwarranted shift of power" from the executive to the judiciary.

However, they stressed there would be "formidable hurdles" in the way of the relatives of four servicemen who died between 2003 and 2005, and warned the outcome of the review application was "unpromising".

"We are doubtful whether it would be appropriate to order a public inquiry of the kind sought," they added, saying the issues raised were "essentially matters for the executive and parliament".

But Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing the families of four British servicemen killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2005, said it had to be established "once and for all" whether military action was lawful.

"In particular, the government must finally explain how the 13-page equivocal advice from the attorney general of March 7th 2003 was changed within ten days to a one-page, completely unequivocal advice that an invasion would be legal," he said.

"My clients believe he impermissibly changed his advice because he was sat on by the prime minister and others in government. In changing his advice, he sent these soldiers to their deaths."

In its ruling, the court of appeal said it was "at least arguable that the question whether the invasion was lawful - or reasonably thought to have been lawful - as a matter of international law is worthy of investigation".

It said it had granted permission to appeal because the case "raises questions of considerable general importance which should, we think, be finally decided after full argument".

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Michael Moore welcomed the judgment, saying it was "scandalous" that the government had for so long evaded scrutiny of the justification and legality of the invasion of Iraq.

"With Iraq on the brink of civil war and 100 deaths a day, the government can no longer sweep this under the carpet. The British and Iraqi people have every right to know how and why this disastrous foreign policy came about," he said.