R Gentle & Clarke v The Prime Minister and Others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Sir Anthony Clarke |
| Judgment Date | 12 December 2006 |
| Neutral Citation | [2006] EWHC 3119 (Admin) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Docket Number | Case No: C1/2006/0187 |
| Date | 12 December 2006 |
[2006] EWHC 3119 (Admin)
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE
COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
MR JUSTICE COLLINS
Before: Sir Anthony Clarke, Master Of The Rolls
Sir Igor Judge, President Of The Queen's Bench Division
and
Lord Justice Dyson
Case No: C1/2006/0187
Rabinder Singh QC and Richard Hermer (instructed by Public Interest Lawyers) for the Applicants
Jonathan Sumption QC, Philip Sales QC and Jemima Stratford (instructed by Treasury Solicitor) for the Respondents
Costs Application
Sir Anthony Clarke:
In this case the applicants seek an inquiry into the question whether the government took reasonable steps to be satisfied that the invasion of Iraq was lawful under the principle of international law.
We have provided a draft judgment to the parties which we have corrected in the light of suggestions made by counsel. Our detailed reasons are contained in the judgment, a copy of which will be available at the end of this short hearing. Our conclusions are summarised in paragraph 84 of the judgment as follows :
“We have every sympathy for the applicants. The deaths of their sons must be unbearable. However, the deaths will be investigated in detail. The only question which will not be investigated is the invasion question, namely whether the government took reasonable steps to be satisfied that the invasion of Iraq was lawful under the principles of public international law. We have reached the conclusion that the United Kingdom is not obliged to set up an independent inquiry into that question under article 2 of the Convention. Such an inquiry would inevitably involve, not only questions of international law, but also questions of policy, which are essentially matters for the executive and not the courts. The Convention does not contemplate that an inquiry set up pursuant to article 2 will consider either questions of...
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