Non-Subscriber Extract
Halting of Al Yamamah investigation was not unlawful, rules House of Lords
By Gerrard Cowan
30 July 2008
The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) did not act unlawfully by halting a corruption investigation into the Al Yamamah deal concerning BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia, the UK House of Lords has ruled.
The SFO launched inquiries into arrangements concerning Saudi Arabia and BAE Systems in early 2004. However, on 14 December 2006 the SFO decided to discontinue the corruption probe, citing "national and international security" as the basis for the decision. In April 2008, however, the High Court ruled that this decision had been incorrect.
On 30 July, the House of Lords overturned the High Court's judgement. Lord Brown of Eaton-Under-Heywood said: "It simply cannot be the law that, provided only a public officer asserts that his decision accords with the state's international obligations, the courts will entertain a challenge to the decision based upon his arguable misunderstanding of that obligation and then itself decide the point of international law at issue."
A spokesperson for BAE Systems commented: "The case heard was between two campaign groups and the director of the SFO. It concerned the legality of a decision made by the director of the SFO. BAE Systems played no part in that decision."