Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2020 to Question 67536 on Ministry of Defence: Iraq Detainees, how many of the approximately 1,000 civil claims and 1,500 judicial reviews in connection with operations in Iraq, were settled.

A claim is considered "settled" when the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has agreed the damages to be awarded to the claimant, and these and the associated legal costs have been paid. I can confirm that, of the approximately 1,000 compensation claims brought in connection with operations in Iraq, approximately 330 have been settled to date and 217 have been either withdrawn or struck out. Discussions regarding the resolution of the remaining 414 claims remain ongoing.

With regard to the approximately 1,400 judicial review claims, only a few were resolved by the time Public Interest Lawyers went into administration in 2016. Under a 2017 Court Order, unless the claimant revives their claim within three months of the MOD notifying them that any investigations into their allegations are complete, any remaining claims are to be automatically struck out. This process is ongoing.