I thank your Lordships for your kind comments and the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, for his helpful and kind observation. Yes, I will undertake to distribute electronically any letters that have been copied to the Library. I am sorry if that was overlooked and it would have helped him and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, to be aware of the correspondence that I have entered into.
The amendment of the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig of Radley, seeks to consolidate the provisions found in Part 1 of the Bill into the Armed Forces Act 2006. I quite accept that, while consolidation can have real and practical benefits for those who work with the law by making the statute book more accessible, there are many significant factors to consider before drawing together different legislation into a single Act.
One of the principle considerations has to be whether the law concerned is suitable for consolidation into a particular Act. The Armed Forces Act 2006 established a single system of service law that applies to the personnel of all three services, wherever in the world they are operating. It covers matters such as offences, the powers of the service police and the jurisdiction and powers of commanding officers and the service courts, particularly the courts martial.
In contrast to the Armed Forces Act 2006, Part 1 of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill covers matters relating to the wider civilian criminal justice system and is about decisions made by territorial prosecutors. As we are all now aware, the intent of the Bill is to bring in measures to help reduce the uncertainty faced by our service personnel and veterans in relation to historic allegations and claims arising from overseas operations. For that reason, it is more appropriate to have it as a standalone Act; I feel that that makes clearer the issues to which it is directed and that it seeks to address.
I also observe that, as we are aware, the procedure for the Armed Forces Act is one of regular renewal: a quinquennial renewal by Parliament and, in the interim years, a renewal by a statutory instrument. A consolidation of Bills could make that renewal much more complex, and we have to be cognisant of the implications of that because the last thing that any of us wants is to obstruct or make more obtuse, in any sense, legislation that we believe in—I know that there is universal support for the Armed Forces Act, and I have always enjoyed the renewal debates. We want to make sure that we are keeping our issues clearly distinct and encompassed within appropriate statutes, so that there is a clear identification of what it is that these individual Acts are trying to do.
The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig of Radley, has been committed to this objective, and he has been very determined in bringing the matter before your
Lordships’ House. I hope that, by my explaining the genuine difficulties and challenges that I anticipate would accompany such consolidation, he will understand that there is more to this than meets the eye. In these circumstances, I trust that he would be prepared to withdraw his amendment.
I will move on to Amendment 35, in the name of my noble friend Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton. It seeks to extend the territorial extent of the Bill to the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and overseas territories, thereby mirroring the territorial extent of the Armed Forces Act 2006. I know that this is a matter of some importance to my noble friend, and, as he indicated, I have written to him to respond to his concerns about the territorial extent of the Bill. However, I am grateful that he has tabled this amendment because it gives me the opportunity to address this issue with your Lordships.
I say to my noble friend and, in turn, reassure the noble Baronesses, Lady Chakrabarti and Lady Smith—whom I thank for their very kind comments; at this stage in the day, the Minister gets weary and such encouragement is very much appreciated—and all noble Lords that careful consideration has been given to the ways in which the Bill will impact on the British Overseas Territory forces. Some legal background might assist with this.
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It may help the Committee to know that it is Section 369 of the Armed Forces Act that provides that where British Overseas Territory forces personnel are serving with our Armed Forces, they will be subject to service law as set out in that Armed Forces Act—although the position is slightly different in respect of Gibraltar, as my noble friend Lord Lancaster has said. I am happy to confirm that the Bill does not change anything about how or to whom the Armed Forces Act 2006 currently applies.
In respect of its territorial extent, the Bill extends to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is because it is intended to address concerns in relation to historical allegations facing UK Armed Forces personnel on overseas operations.
Part 1 of the Bill places obligations on the Service Prosecuting Authority and other UK prosecutors, and in all cases these prosecutors will be based in the UK. We did not think it appropriate to place obligations on prosecutors who are based in the British Overseas Territories. However, if a British Overseas Territory wishes to give protections equivalent to those in the Bill to their territory forces who deploy independently of our Armed Forces, they can of course legislate to do that under their own legislative powers.
The extent provisions in the Bill do not mirror the broader extent provisions in the Armed Forces Act 2006, and the Part 1 protections will not apply to prosecutors who consider criminal allegations made against British Overseas Territory forces personnel who deploy independently of UK Armed Forces. As I said, if they deploy with us they are protected. In that situation, where British Overseas Territory forces are deploying independently, these personnel will be subject to the civil and criminal law of their own overseas territory.
We were clear that we felt that British Overseas Territory forces should receive the same protection under Part 1 as other members of the Armed Forces when they are serving together with UK Armed Forces, and subject to the same service law. The Bill achieves that aim.
I turn briefly to the definition of “overseas operation”, and the concern that there could be an inconsistency between UK Armed Forces and British Overseas Territory forces in relation to overseas operations. British Overseas Territory forces deployed in support of a UK Armed Forces operation that meets the definition in Clause 1(6), but in an operation within their own home territory, would be within the scope of Part 1, as the operation would be considered to be “overseas”.
In contrast, UK forces serving in their home territory —within the UK—are not covered by the measures in the Bill. That is, of course, because the Bill is aimed at UK Armed Forces on operations outside the British islands. Likewise, in the unlikely situation that British Overseas Territory forces deployed alongside UK forces operating in the UK, they would not be covered by the provisions of the Bill either.
We felt that it was important to ensure that, when there are joint UK Armed Forces and British Overseas Territory forces operations outside the British Isles, all personnel would be covered in the same way by the Part 1 measures in the event of allegations of historical offences on these operations—although in practice we consider any allegations of this nature unlikely to arise. I hope that, with the benefit of that slightly fuller explanation, my noble friend will not press his amendment.