Human rights – Infringement of human rights. Over 600 cases were currently pending in the High Court in which Iraqi civilians were claiming damages from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for their allegedly unlawful detention and alleged ill treatment by British armed forces on various dates during the period when British forces were present in Iraq. Certain preliminary issues came to be tried. The issues concerned whether the MOD's duty under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 overrod any obligations under art 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the availability of aggravated damages and which law governed its availability.