Lords debates armed forces
7 November 2013 (updated on 7 November 2013)
Members of the Lords, including a former justice of the Supreme Court and a former chief of defence staff, discussed the case for protecting the armed forces from vulnerability to legal challenge, on Thursday 7 November
The debate centered around the question of how UK national law should affect the way British armed forces conduct themselves. Peers discussed where ‘combat immunity’ should start and finish, and whether cases involving negligence should be tried in court.
Lords discussed a number of proposals, including the introduction of legislation to define combat immunity, whether the MoD should be exempt from corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide, and whether the UK armed forces should derogate from the European Court of Human Rights during deployed operations.