LONDON: In an embarrassment for the British Government, the High Court yesterday overturned the decision to drop an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption in a deal between the arms manufacturer BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia.

Two judges said the director of the Serious Fraud Office had capitulated to threats from the Saudi royal family over arms deals with BAE, Europe's biggest defence company.

"No one, whether within this country or outside, is entitled to interfere with the course of our justice," one of the judges, Lord Justice Moses, said, calling the decision a failure of government.