R (Gentle) v Prime Minister
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Sir Anthony Clarke MR,Sir Anthony Clarke Mr |
| Judgment Date | 12 December 2006 |
| Neutral Citation | [2006] EWCA Civ 1689,[2006] EWCA Civ 1078 |
| Docket Number | Case No: C1/2006/0187 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Date | 12 December 2006 |
Court of Appeal
Before Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls, Sir Igor Judge, President and Lord Justice Dyson.
The United Kingdom's duty to protect its citizens' right to life under article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as scheduled to the Human Rights Act 1998, did not require it, when investigating the deaths of two servicemen in Iraq, to set up an independent inquiry into the circumstances which led to the invasion of Iraq and the lawfulness of that invasion under international law.
The Court of Appeal so held when refusing a claim by Mrs Rose Gentle and Mrs Beverley Clarke, the mothers of two soldiers killed in Iraq in 2003, for judicial review of the Government's refusal to hold an independent inquiry into the circumstances which led to the invasion of Iraq. The claim was brought against the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Defence and the Attorney-General.
An earlier application for permission to seek judicial review, brought by the two present claimants and the relatives of four other members of the Armed Forces who had lost their lives in Iraq, was refused by Mr Justice Collins (unreported (2005) EWHC 3119 (Admin)) on December 20, 2005.
The Court of Appeal granted leave for an appeal against that decision because of the importance of the issues, and then heard the case as a claim for judicial review.
Mr Rabinder Singh, QC, and Mr Richard Hermer for the claimants; Mr Jonathan Sumption, QC, Mr Philip Sales, QC, and Ms Jemima Stratford for the defendants.
THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS, giving the reserved judgment of the court, said that the physical circumstances surrounding the deaths of both Fusilier Gentle and Trooper Clarke would be investigated at inquests.
The only relevant question which would not be considered at the proposed inquests was the question whether the Government took reasonable steps to be satisfied that the invasion of Iraq was lawful under the principles of international law.
Article 2.1 of the Human Rights Convention provided: "Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law". It imposed both substantive and procedural obligations on contracting states.
The procedural obligation to conduct an inquiry only arose where there was at least arguably a breach of the substantive obligation.
The applicants' case was that the Government was in breach of the substantive obligation implicit in...
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