Iraqi civilians who allege they were detained and mistreated by British forces have won permission to bring a legal challenge in the Supreme Court which could pave the way for them to seek damages.

The claims relate to what has become known as the 'Iraqi Civilian Litigation' under which many hundreds of claims had been launched in the English High Court.

A High Court judge lifted limitations which had prevented many Iraqis suing the Ministry of Defence.

But last December the Court of Appeal struck down the judge's decision, and it is that ruling which is under challenge in the highest court in the land.

The High Court ruled that a limitation period for suing in relation to certain claims of ill treatment should be suspended because a time bar had prevented applicants bringing their cases in Iraq.

The claims relate to what has become known as the 'Iraqi Civilian Litigation' under which many hundreds of claims had been launched in the English High Court

Iraqi law provides for a three-year deadline for bringing claims.

It can be suspended if an 'impediment' has prevented legal actions going ahead.

Legal representatives for the Iraqi civilians argued that another provision of Iraqi law had given immunity to foreign military personnel and was such an impediment.

MoD lawyers successfully argued in the appeal court that the immunity provisions were a procedural rule of local law and must therefore be disapplied by the English courts, with the result that the limitation period remained in place.

The Supreme Court will be asked to declare that the appeal judges went wrong in law.

All claimants in the case are seeking damages for their alleged unlawful detention and alleged ill-treatment by British armed forces when those forces formed part of the Coalition led by the US which went into Iraq in 2003.

The MoD welcomed the appeal decision blocking claims, saying that it served 'to safeguard taxpayer interests in the face of hundreds of compensation claims which have appeared many years after the alleged incidents to which they refer'.

MoD lawyers successfully argued in the appeal court that the immunity provisions were a procedural rule of local law and must therefore be disapplied by the English courts, with the result that the limitation period remained in place

Martyn Day, from law firm Leigh Day, which has acted for the Iraqis, said: 'These cases are against the MoD which has so far settled hundreds of claims by Iraqis who claimed they had been abused and wrongly detained during the period of British involvement in southern Iraq following the ill-fated war of 2003.