Documents relating to the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act, including those from the passage of the Bill, and the public reaction to its formulation.
The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act passed into law in April 2021. It was intended to provide the UK Armed Forces with increased protection against legal scrutiny on overseas activities, implementing a presumption against prosecution on criminal offences five years after an alleged incident, introducing a time limit on civil claims, and requiring the Secretary of State to consider derogating from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) during future overseas operations.
When the Bill was initially introduced to parliament in April 2020, it did not include any exceptions for even some of the most serious of crimes, including genocide and torture. It was met with considerable public backlash, including from lawyers, NGOs, and senior members of the Armed Forces.
This Bill was significantly amended before it passed through the House of Lords. These amendments integrated war crimes and crimes against humanity into the list of offences not subject to the presumption against prosecution, removed the clause concerning derogation from the ECHR, excluded claims brought by UK service personnel from the time limit on civil litigation, and incorporated additional concerns regarding criminal investigations.
This collection includes all proposed amendments to the Bill, as well as NGO briefings, parliamentary committee reports, letters, and written evidence.
