Mahmood Mansur Eblish v Attorney General
| Court | King's Bench Division |
| Judge | MASTER DAGNALL |
| Neutral Citation | [2024] EWHC 3480 (KB) |
| Date | 27 November 2024 |
| Year | 2024 |
| Counsel | Mr N Sheldon Kc,Mr R Boyle,Claimant |
Case No: KB-2023-000824
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING’S BENCH DIVISION
NCN [2024] EWHC 3480 (KB)
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London, WC2A 2LL
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
BEFORE:
MASTER DAGNALL
----------------------
BETWEEN:
MAHMOOD MANSUR EBLISH
Claimant
- and -
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Defendant
----------------------
The Claimant appeared in person
MR N SHELDON KC and MR R BOYLE appeared on behalf of the Defendant
----------------------
APPROVED JUDGMENT
This Judgment was delivered orally on 27 November 2024.
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1. THE MASTER: This is my judgment in relation to the defendant's application made
by application notice of 2 June 2023 to strike out or obtain reverse summary judgment
in relation to the claimant's claim. The application to strike out is effectively made
under Civil Procedure Rule 3.4(2):
"The court may strike out a statement of case if it appears to the court:
(a) that the statement of case discloses no reasonable grounds for
bringing or defending the claim;
(b) that the statement of case is an abuse of the court’s process or is
otherwise likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings; or
(c) that there has been a failure to comply with a rule, practice direction
or court order."
and the defendant contends primarily that the claimant's statement of case that has not
disclosed reasonable grounds for bringing the claim.
2. It is accepted by Mr Sheldon KC -- who appears with Mr Boyle of counsel for the
defendant on these applications -- that the court assumes for those purposes that the
facts stated in the claimant's statement of case will be proved.
3. The defendant's alternative application is for a reverse summary judgment under Civil
Procedure Rule 24.3:
"The court may give summary judgment against a claimant or defendant
on the whole of a claim or on an issue if:
(a) it considers that the party has no real prospect of succeeding on the
claim, defence or issue; and
(b) there is no other compelling reason why the case or issue should be
disposed of at a trial."
Epiq Europe Ltd, Lower Ground, 46 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1JE
www.epiqglobal.com/en-gb/
4. I will return to the summary judgment principles in due course, but the defendant's case
is that the claimant has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim and that there is no
other compelling reason why the case or issue should be disposed of at a trial. This
summary judgment application is effectively based on grounds of law as to how the
case is advanced by the claimant, rather than on the basis of advancing particular
evidence as to why the claimant is bound to fail in relation to allegations of pleaded
fact.
5. The matter arises as follows. The claimant comes from Libya and has family in Libya.
He came to live in this country by at least 2006. He asserts that in July 2006, during a
meeting in Tripoli between the British Security Services and the then Libyan Security
Apparatus, the British Security Services provided the Libyans with a list of names
including his name, and that that list identified him (and falsely identified him) as
being involved in terrorist activities.
6. He justifies this assertion by reference to a document -- originally in Arabic but which
has been translated -- which he says he obtained subsequently following the overthrow
of the then Libyan regime - which is said to be an actual a record of that particular
meeting. The defendant's position, as is common in cases involving or allegedly
involving the security services, is neither to confirm nor to deny those particular
matters of asserted fact.
7. The claimant goes on to assert that the consequence of the meeting and the provision of
the list was that the then Libyan Security Services targeted the claimant's family and
possessions in Libya. Specifically, in August 2006 by arresting, assaulting and
humiliating two of his brothers at the family home in Libya; and in 2007 by causing a
friend of his to be abducted by the Egyptian Security Services and made subject to
mistreatment; and also, on the occasion where the brothers were arrested in 2006, by
seizing and effectively stealing from the family home, valuable property, including
gold and cash, owned by the claimant.
8. The claimant contends that he only discovered what had actually happened in full in
December 2019 with the result that he suffered, "Further severe psychiatric injury
including major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder." He has
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www.epiqglobal.com/en-gb/
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