Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the number of cases brought against the armed forces by Iraqi nationals which were settled out of court.

Details of 326 cases brought against the Armed Forces by Iraqi nationals, which for the purposes of this response are deemed to be common law claims for damages brought against the Ministry of Defence by Iraqi nationals, where an agreement in terms of damages to be paid to the claimant are already in the public domain following responses provided to FOI requests received. Discussions between the claimants' solicitors and departmental officials with regard to the resolution of the outstanding remaining claims in the Iraq Civilian Litigation (ICL) have continued since early 2018, but the terms of these discussions and any outcomes remain the subject of a confidentiality agreement endorsed by Orders of the Court and we are therefore unable to provide a detailed and complete response to this question at this time. However, although the confidentiality agreement remains extant, it is hoped that we will be in a position to provide further information in relation to the remaining outstanding claims in the ICL in the near future.