Human rights

The present case concerned the determination of preliminary issues in claims involving allegations of ill-treatment, unlawful detention and unlawful killing of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers. The Administrative Court ruled on the circumstances in which art 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights applied. It further held that an investigative duty arose where there was an arguable breach of Art 3 of the Convention and where an arguable violation of Art 5 of the Convention amounted to an enforced disappearance. An investigative obligation under Arts 2 or 3 of the Convention could not arise in circumstances where there had been no arguable substantive breach of Arts 2 or 3 of the Convention.