British WW II compensation scheme unlawful
Publish date: 25 July 2005
Issue Number: 1384
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Human rights
A British judge has ruled that a government decision not to compensate an 81-year-old Hong Kong woman, interned by the Japanese during World War II was unlawful.
Diana Elias was denied compensation by the British Government because her parents were not born in the UK and she was therefore not British enough, according to a report in The Scotsman. The family was interned because they were British when the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941, when the colony was part of the British Empire. The judge, however, left it to the Minister of Defence to decide on the payment of compensation. Full report in The Scotsman
