Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill that had its Second Reading on Wednesday 23 September 2020.

I can assure you that I am supporting calls for it to be amended so that it protects both our armed forces and our international obligations to treaties and conventions.

Our Armed Forces are world-leading, and I will always stand up for them and for their role as a force for good at home and overseas. They set themselves the highest operational standards and expect the best from their service men and women. 

I believe we should protect service personnel and veterans from vexatious legal claims and repeat investigations while preserving the principles of justice which they have sacrificed so much to defend. I share your concern that the Bill as currently drafted fails to do this, and risks undermining Britain’s leadership role in the world.

Unless it is changed, the Bill would undermine Britain’s long-standing and unequivocal adherence to the Geneva Conventions, and other international treaties, by bringing in a presumption against prosecution after five years to cover torture and other war crimes. It risks service personnel being dragged to the international criminal court in the Hague instead of being dealt with in our own British justice system.

I am also very concerned the Bill could prevent British Armed Forces personnel from holding the Ministry of Defence to account when it fails to properly equip troops, or when it makes serious errors that lead to death or injury of British forces overseas. I share the view of the Royal British Legion that the Bill may breach the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Bill’s Committee Stage is due to conclude by 22 October and I can assure you that I will be supporting efforts to press the Government on these concerns.

It is not too late for the Government to think again and make changes to the Bill to overhaul investigations, set up safeguards against vexatious claims that are consistent with our international obligations, hold all war crimes to the same judicial standards, and guarantee troops retain their right to compensation claims when MoD failures lead to injury or death of our forces overseas.

Pressure is growing from both inside and outside of Parliament and campaign groups like Freedom from Torture are playing a crucial role.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP