The Court of Appeal (Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Justice Males and Lord Justice Warby) has today handed down judgment in (1) Shehabi (2) Mohammed v Kingdom of Bahrain [2024] EWCA Civ 1158. The appeal related to a claim brought by two Bahraini pro-democracy activists who live in the UK and who allege that their laptops were hacked by Bahrain, using “FinSpy” spyware, and that they were thereby subject to surveillance by the Bahraini state while resident in the UK.
In today’s judgment, the Court of Appeal dismissed Bahrain’s appeal against the first-instance decision of Mr Justice Julian Knowles, holding that the court had jurisdiction to hear the claim. In doing so, the Court of Appeal rejected Bahrain’s contention that it benefits from state immunity in respect of the claim. The claim was held to fall within the exception to state immunity under section 5 of the State Immunity Act 1978 on the basis that the proceedings were in respect of personal injury caused by an act or omission in the UK. The court rejected Bahrain’s argument that the exception did not apply because some of the acts alleged against Bahrain were said to have occurred outside the UK.
The Claimants were represented by Ben Silverstone (with Professor Philippa Webb), instructed by Leigh Day.