The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it will appeal against a High Court ruling that said it acted "unlawfully" when it dropped investigations into alleged bribery and corruption involving BAE Systems and Saudi Arabian arms dealings.

The SFO yesterday (22 April) informed claimants – Corner House Research and the Campaign Against Arms Trade – that it is seeking permission to appeal to the House of Lords against the judgment handed down earlier this month (10 April) by Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan.

The judge's decision ruled in favour of the claimants, who argued commercial interests were behind the controversial decision to drop the probe into BAE's £43bn Al-Yamamah arms contract with Saudi Arabia.