Mutua & Ors v Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Five Kenyan nationals who allege that they were seriously mistreated in detention camps in Kenya, when it was a British colony, during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s, brought claims for damages for personal injuries against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, alleging assault and battery, and negligence. The FCO brought an application to strike out the claims and for summary judgment in its favour. The Court ruled that the claimants had an arguable case as regards direct liability for acts carried out on behalf of the UK Government, but struck out the claimants’ case that FCO was liable for the acts of the Colonial Administration, such liability having transferred back to the United Kingdom upon Kenyan independence.