Supreme Court allows Bahrain spyware lawsuit to proceed to trial
The British Supreme Court has dismissed Bahrain’s attempt to claim state immunity, paving the way for Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed to pursue damages for alleged FinSpy surveillance.
Britain’s Supreme Court has dismissed Bahrain’s attempt to claim state immunity to block a spyware lawsuit filed by two dissidents, establishing a significant legal precedent. The ruling, delivered on Monday by a narrow 3-2 majority, confirms that foreign states can be sued in UK courts for the remote surveillance of individuals in Britain, even if the hacking was directed from abroad.
The case centres on allegations that the Bahraini government infected the computers of Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed with FinSpy spyware in 2011. Shehabi, a journalist and founder of a Bahraini political party opposing the Khalifa royal family’s rule, and Mohammed, a Bahraini refugee, both reside in the UK. They accuse the Bahraini authorities of using the software to log keystrokes, track locations, and monitor their activities remotely.
The claimants are seeking damages for psychiatric harm resulting from the alleged surveillance. The lawsuit was originally filed in London’s High Court in 2020. Bahrain denied the hacking allegations and previously argued that the alleged acts occurred outside UK jurisdiction, entitling it to state immunity. However, the High Court rejected that argument in 2023, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2024.
In its final appeal, the Supreme Court determined that the surveillance constituted an act carried out in the UK. The court reasoned that the claimants and their devices were physically located in Britain when the spyware took effect, allowing the case to proceed to trial. This judgement resolves the final procedural hurdle before the substantive claims can be heard.
The decision is part of a broader trend of litigation testing whether states and surveillance firms can be held liable in Western courts for spyware deployed against critics abroad. Similar legal challenges include WhatsApp’s ongoing lawsuit in the United States against the NSO Group over its Pegasus spyware. Rights groups have long accused Bahrain of surveilling dissidents and journalists.
