Defence Secretary Des Browne has criticised Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker for attacking the Ministry of Defence during an inquest into a soldier's death in Iraq.
The Defence Secretary has asked the High Court to outlaw the use of language strongly critical of the MoD in inquest verdicts on soldiers who have died on active service.
The move came in a test case relating to Territorial Army soldier Pte Jason Smith, who died of heatstroke in Iraq.
In a November 2006 inquest verdict, Mr Walker recorded that Pte Smith's death was "caused by a serious failure to recognise and take appropriate steps to address the difficulty that he had in adjusting to the climate".
The 32-year-old fell ill in temperatures of 60C (140F) in August 2003 at the Al Amara stadium in southern Iraq.
Mr Walker's narrative verdict described how Pte Smith was taken to the medical centre at Abu Naji Camp, where he later died.
The coroner said the soldier's difficulty in acclimatising to the heat should have been recognised.
The wording of his verdict came under attack at the High Court in London before Mr Justice Collins.
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