The High Court has dismissed a legal challenge brought by NGOs against the UK government’s licensing of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which has been involved in military conflict in Yemen since 2015.
The NGOs presented evidence that there was ‘clear risk’ of a ‘serious violation’ of international humanitarian law, violating Criterion 2c of the Export Control Act 2002, in R (oao Campaign Against The Arms Trade) v The Secretary of State for International Trade [2017] EWHC 1754 (Admin). However, the government countered that they operated a robust system for determining whether Criterion 2c was met, based on information not available to the sources relied on by the claimants.
Giving judgment, Lord Justice Burnett and Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said they had considered top secret materials including high resolution Ministry of Defence-sourced imagery, intelligence reports and battle damage assessments.
They held the Secretary of State’s decision not to withhold export licences was not irrational or unlawful.
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