PM orders crackdown on 'spurious' legal claims against British soldiers

[super jumbe]

David Cameron has ordered a crackdown on ?spurious? legal claims being made against British soldiers.

Human rights lawyers who have brought hundreds of war crimes cases against British troops will see their taxpayer-funded legal aid cut, in a new assault on ?ambulance chasing? law firms, Downing Street said.

Foreigners will be banned from claiming legal aid unless they have lived in the UK for 12 months. There will also be a strict time limit for bringing legal action against troops.

Number 10 source
The move comes as former British soldier David Holden is to be re-investigated over the 1988 shooting of an unarmed Catholic man at an Army checkpoint in Northern Ireland.

And in an unusual step, the Prime Minister has also instructed his officials to look at the possibility of suing Leigh Day, a law firm that has claimed millions of pounds in legal costs after compensation claims against troops.

The public outcry over war crimes allegations against British troops follows the collapse of the Al-Sweady inquiry in December 2014.

The ?31 million public inquiry found that while mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners did occur, the most serious allegations including murder were ?wholly without foundation and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility?.

Nearly ?6m has been paid out to two major law firms: Leigh Day and Public Interest Lawyers.

Both companies were criticised over their role in the Al-Sweady public inquiry and were referred to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the legal watchdog.

Leigh Day is now facing disciplinary action which could result in senior lawyers being struck off. PIL is still under investigation. Both firms have denied wrongdoing.

Downing Street said: ?Once disciplinary proceedings have been completed against any firm, the Defence Secretary has been commissioned to prepare the ground for seeking to recover as much of the ?31 million of taxpayers? money spent on the Al-Sweady Inquiry as possible, including the millions of pounds awarded to some law firms involved in the inquiry.?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-soldiers.html

[bonus2010]

David's got a cheek going on about the lawyers... I mean, I'm sure they will be doing everything legally.

[super jumbe]

David is right there has to be a time limit, Jimmy Savile had to coops when dead, and some one will have to stop lawyers going as back as medieval days for compensation, if its 48 hours to report car accident then the time limit is the answer because I forgot every thing I ate this week!!!

[GastonJ]

Had Dave wanted to change the law and limit such things, then he's had 6 years to do it. How much longer does he need, or is this a time when he's trying to make populist comments because he's a tw@

[GastonJ]

That and Daves mates will be shysters so he'll do nothing at all. It never stopped for anyone who came second in ww2, they'll still try to extradite Assad if he ever goes, the US will never stop trying to get Ed Snowden. It's one of those "when it suits us" times for the government again. If he's busy making populist comments to the media, then it's time to look and see the bad news that's being hidden.

Solicitors and barristers are generally the winners in court cases, more so when the public are paying.


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