Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Corruption: House of Lords backs Serious Fraud Squad over Saudi arms deal scandal

The BBC reports that The House of Lords has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office acted lawfully when it halted its investigation into a Saudi arms deal.

The SFO dropped its inquiry into the £43bn deal with BAE Systems over fears it would threaten national security.

Ministers said that the Saudi government had threatened to withdraw cooperation on security matters.

The High Court had ruled in April that this was unlawful, but the Law Lords have reversed that decision on appeal.

Related i On Global Trends article: Corruption: High Court rules against Serious Fraud Office in Saudi/BAE scandal
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