Limitation of action – Period of limitation. In claims by many hundreds of Iraqi civilians against the defendant Ministry of Defence for damages for their allegedly unlawful detention and ill-treatment by British armed forces, the preliminary issue was whether the claims were barred by an applicable statute of limitations. The Queen's Bench Division held that, by reason of Coalition Provisional Authority Order No 17 (CPA Order 17), the time limit was suspended indefinitely. Further, s 2(3) of the Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984 did not apply to disregard the suspension of the limitation period resulting from the effect of CPA Order 17.