Seamus Burns discusses the separation of powers' doctrine between the judiciary and the executive in the UK
The House of Lords' (HL) decision in R (on the application of Gentle and another) v Prime Minister and others [2008] All ER (D) 111 (Apr), [2008] UKHL 20, that the British government did not owe a duty to British troops and their families under Art 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) to hold a public inquiry into whether it had obtained adequate prior legal advice on the legality in international law of the Iraq invasion, signals the reluctance of courts to subject the executive's decisions on matters of high public policy to forensic scrutiny and accountability, allied to the need to limit the potential scope and applicability of a key Convention Article.
The appellants, Rose Gentle and Beverley Clarke, were the mothers of two British soldiers, both 19, who were killed serving in Iraq. Fusilier Gentle of the 1st Battalion The Royal Highland Fusiliers was killed by a roadside bomb in June 2004 and Trooper
