Who Dares Whinges: Duress, Undue Influence and the SAS

Extract

One could be forgiven for not predicting that a soldier from the army's elite SAS regiment, trained to withstand brutal torture and appalling interrogation techniques, would crop up in the law reports seeking relief from a contract on the grounds of duress and undue influence, but such was the unlikely basis of R v. Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales [2003] UKPC 22 (17 March 2003). During the 1991 Gulf War, R was a member of the famous SAS Bravo Two Zero patrol, dropped behind enemy lines but captured by Iraqi forces. After the war, former patrol members published books about the mission, which were also made into films. These publications were regarded by the regiment as inaccurate, distasteful and contrary to the SAS's traditional ethos of secrecy. The regiment (backed, in a poll, by over 96% of its members, including R) urged the MOD to adopt binding confidentiality contracts, to prevent any future disclosures, and it agreed to do so.