UK Court hears Saudi exports appeal as Airbus hit by licence delays

The High Court of England & Wales heard an appeal in April, brought by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (‘CAAT’), which seeks to overturn a 2017 High Court judgment allowing the government to continue to export arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen. The appellants argued that the decision to grant export licences ‘was against UK arms export policy, which clearly states that the government must deny such licences if there is a “clear risk” that the arms “might” be used in ‘a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.’

On 7 April, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen said there had been reports that ‘as many as eleven civilians, including five students, were killed and scores of civilians injured in Shu’aub District in Sana’a City,’ in an incident that Houti rebels have attributed to a Saudi airstrike.

On 24 April, UK foreign office minister Mark Field told Parliament: ‘British officials have raised this incident with Saudi officials, who have denied publicly that an airstrike took place, and British officials are urgently seeking information from all credible sources. We…continue to call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to exercise restraint, comply fully with international humanitarian law and implement the Stockholm Agreement without delay in order to improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen.’

It is known that EU Member States are taking different approaches to licencing exports to Saudi – interrupting some defence supply chains.

In its first quarter financial report, published 30 April, Airbus said: ‘[D]ue to the prolonged suspension of defence export licenses to Saudi Arabia by the German Government, and the consequential inability of the Company to execute a customer contract, a € 190 million impairment charge has been recognised mainly on inventories and a € 107 million financial expense related to hedge ineffectiveness.’