The ECHR in Iraq: The Judgment of the House of Lords in R (Al-Skeini) v. Secretary of State for Defence

Abstract

The House of Lords has held that the ECHR does not apply to the acts of the UK armed forces in Iraq, except in their military prisons. More generally, the House has endorsed the position that the ECHR cannot apply to areas controlled by a state party outside the territories of the Council of Europe. The author disputes the treatment of the European cases that led the House to this position, and criticizes the suggestions that the introduction of European human rights law was culturally inappropriate and even unlawful under the regime of belligerent occupation.