We all agree that the aims of the Bill are noble, and that the idea of revolving investigations or a life in investigatory purgatory, never knowing when a vexatious investigator will come knocking at the door, is wrong and must end. The mental stress of that legal uncertainty needs clarity. The loopholes need to be closed and fixed, but this Bill does not do that. It does not even come close. In fact, in a number of areas, it makes things worse.
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On Second Reading, I said that we needed a system of oversight that limited the investigations and allowed investigations to be paused if they were vexatious or unnecessary. New clause 1 proposes a system along
those lines. That is where the Bill really should have ended; the rest of the Bill is almost superfluous. But instead the Government have insisted on adding law. My view is that, where it is unnecessary, we should not have law. Bad law, which is what the Government are adding, is often worse than no law.
One of the areas of bad law was dealt with by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis). To prohibit war crimes and crimes against humanity, which include torture, and to include a specific mention of torture and genocide, is needed. If people say that that is not needed, the question is, why is it needed for sexual crimes, for which the Government rightly admit it is needed in the Bill, but not for those other serious crimes?
The other area that the Bill disadvantages is veterans themselves. The amendments from the Labour Front Bench would, I hope, correct that, but unless they are passed, it seems that the Bill inadvertently makes veterans second-class citizens in our country in terms of employment and liability law. That really cannot stand. It cannot be the basis of law to disadvantage veterans over others. That is a fundamental wrong that should not be allowed to pass. That is why the Labour Front Bench’s amendments are important and must be supported.
The reality is that the current prosecuting requirements for public interest are sufficient, in the main, for the issues that the Government are trying to deal with in the other clauses of this Bill. If they are not, renewed prosecutory guidelines can always be presented. The Bill beyond new clause 1 was actually unnecessary.
When I stand in remembrance, as many—I hope all—Members will next week, of people who have lost their lives, I always say, “Never forget. Never again.” If the Bill passes without amendment, it will be a great shame on all of us, because it will disadvantage our veterans. It will not uphold their rights or the best practice of the best of the British armed forces in this country.
The idea that we could see our veterans or active armed service personnel in front of an ICC investigation is one of the most shocking parts of the Bill. I can imagine an investigation being launched by the ICC prosecutor in a few years’ time, because they are obliged to look into matters where there is not due process in the home country. I can see that threshold being quite easily met. Prosecution may never come, but the terror of the investigation will. I can see the clamouring of Government Members who will say, “This is disgusting—foreign prosecutors prosecuting our service personnel!” Well, it will be disgusting, and it will be this Bill that will have caused it. We must not allow that.