Service Police Legacy Investigations
SPLI investigations into allegations made by Iraqi civilians of serious criminal behaviour by UK Armed Forces in Iraq.
Service Police Legacy Investigations (SPLI), which was led by a senior Royal Navy Police Officer, met the government’s legal duty to investigate allegations made by Iraqi civilians of serious criminal behaviour by UK armed forces in Iraq.
In February 2017, the Secretary of State for Defence announced that the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) would close and any remaining Iraq legacy investigations would be reintegrated into the service police system. SPLI took over these remaining investigations at the beginning of July 2017. Cases that were closed, or in the process of being closed, before, and up to, 30 June 2017 will be updated on the former IHAT website.
What work did SPLI carry out?
Following the closure of IHAT, service personnel, made up of Royal Navy Police and Royal Air Force Police, considered any remaining legacy investigations which look at the alleged behaviour of UK armed forces in Iraq from 2003 to 2009.
Information for complainants
Complainants can find information about their case in this table:
Work completed
Since SPLI took on the remaining legacy cases, on 1 July 2017, it has closed 1,291 allegations. SPLI used a detailed investigative strategy looking at every claim to ensure that credible allegations of criminality were investigated. They weeded out claims where there was not a case to answer or it was considered not proportionate to conduct a full investigation.
You can access the table showing the work SPLI has completed here: . This table only shows those cases that have closed after reaching full investigation.
Quarterly reports
Written summaries issued by SPLI on progress made are available below.
Contact us
You can write to the Ministry of Defence at the following address:
Directorate of Judicial Engagement Policy
Level 3 – Zone I
MOD Main Building
Whitehall
London SW1A 2HB
You can also contact us by email: DJEP-TOresponses@mod.gov.uk
Updates to this page
Published 8 August 2017Last updated 19 October 2021 + show all updates
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Addition of SPLI quarterly updates for 1 July to 30 September 2020 and 30 September to 16 November 2020.
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Updated the contact number and address.
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Added the Quarterly for April to June 2020.
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Updated the information for complainants table.
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Added 5 Arabic report translations.
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Added the SPLI quarterly update: 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020.
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Updated Information for complainants table as of 22 April 2020.
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Added 5 Quarterly reports in Arabic and added the SPLI privacy notice.
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Addition of: SPLI quarterly update: 1 October to 31 December 2019.
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Replacement guidance page for making a complaint including Arabic information added.
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Added the SPLI quarterly update: 30 June to 30 September 2019.
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Added the SPLI quarterly update: 31 March to 30 June 2019.
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Updated the information for complainants table.
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Added the SPLI Quarterly report for 1 January to 31 March 2019.
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Added SPLI quarterly update: 30 September to 31 December 2018
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Updated information for complainants table
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Updated information for complainants table
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Updated information for complainants document.
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Updated contact details.
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Added translation
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Added SPLI quarterly update: 1 July to 30 September 2018 and updated the SPLI Information for complainants table.
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Updated the information for complainants table.
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Updated the complainants table and information for September 2018.
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Updated the information for complainants table.
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Added the Quarterly Report dated 1 April to 30 June 2018.
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Updated the information complainants table.
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Added SPLI Quarterly Update: 1 January to 31 March 2018.
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Added SPLI Quarterly Reports for 1 July to 31 December 2017.
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Updated table for 'Information for complainants' section.
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First published.