SFO to appeal BAE ruling
April 22, 2008The Government was embarrassed after two High Court judges condemned the Government’s “abject surrender’’ to pressure from Saudi Arabia in blocking the inquiry earlier this month.
New SFO director Richard Alderman, who took up his post on Monday, said he would seek leave to appeal at a High Court hearing on Thursday.
He said: “The judgment of the divisional court raises principles of general public importance affecting, among other things, the independence of prosecutors and the role of the court in reviewing a prosecutor’s evaluation of the public interest in a case like this.
“The court itself has commented that the issues raised in this case are important points of public interest. I will therefore be seeking permission to appeal to the House of Lords to obtain a definitive ruling.”
