Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill Report published

3 Dec 2020 03:26 PM

The Constitution Committee has published its 20th report of the session on the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill.

• Report: Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (HTML)
• Report: Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (PDF)
• Constitution Committee

Background

The Bill concerns legal proceedings involving service personnel in relation to overseas operations. It contains a statutory presumption against prosecution after 5 years, restriction on time limits to bring actions and it imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to consider derogating from the European Convention of Human Rights in certain circumstances.

Key findings

• The Committee questions whether one of the provisions in the Bill would have any substantive effect and whether others would make any difference to prosecutorial decisions.
• The Committee recommends that the House seek the reasons for including most war crimes and crime against humanity in the presumption against prosecution.
• The report also questions whether the restrictions on time limits in Part 2 of the Bill are compatible with the principle of access to justice.

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees