The Kingdom of Bahrain has asked the UK Supreme Court to rule that it enjoys sovereign immunity from a lawsuit brought by two political dissidents who claim their computers were infected with spyware while they were living in London. The case involves Dr Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed, who allege that agents of the Bahraini state installed the German-made spyware FinSpy (by the company Gamma Group) on their laptops around September 2011, resulting in psychological harm once the surveillance was discovered.
Previously, both the High Court and the Court of Appeal rejected Bahrain’s claim to state immunity. The courts held that remote manipulation of a computer located in the UK counts as an “act within the United Kingdom,” and that under State Immunity Act 1978—specifically Section 5—a state cannot claim immunity from personal-injury claims arising from acts in the UK. The courts further recognized psychiatric injury as a valid form of “personal injury.”
The upcoming Supreme Court hearing (set for 26–27 November 2025) will therefore decide not whether the surveillance actually occurred or damages should be awarded, but whether Bahrain is legally immune from such a lawsuit. A ruling in Bahrain’s favor could have wide-ranging implications for similar claims by dissidents and human-rights activists living in the UK. Lawyers for Shehabi and Mohammed, working with the firm Leigh Day, have emphasized that the case could affect many pending or future claims of state-sponsored digital surveillance.
For the dissidents, the mere fact that the case will reach the highest court is already being framed as a symbolic victory. Shehabi has described the development as sending “a clear message” to foreign governments about the limits of their reach, while Mohammed called it a duty to expose what he suffered after he believes his computer was hacked.
Reference taken from:
[The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/26/bahrain-uk-supreme-court-immunity-surveillance-claims?
[1]: https://supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2024-0152? “The Kingdom of Bahrain (Appellant) v Shehabi and another (Respondents) – UK Supreme Court”
[2]: “Bahrain loses state immunity bid in dissidents’ spyware lawsuit in UK | Euronews”
[3]: https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/news/2025-news/supreme-court-to-hear-kingdom-of-bahrain-s-claim-of-sovereign-immunity-against-dissidents-spyware-claims/? “Kingdom of Bahrain claim of immunity against spyware claims”
