Ministry of Defence: Staff

(asked on 7th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's civilian staff will be subject to the same provisions within the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill as military personnel when posted overseas to support military operations.


Answered by
Johnny Mercer Portrait
Johnny Mercer
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)
This question was answered on 13th July 2020

The provisions in Part 1 of the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill will only apply to alleged offences committed more than five years ago by current or former members of the UK Armed Forces, including Reserves, and members of British Overseas Territory Forces when operating as part of UK Armed Forces, on operations outside the British Islands.

Although Ministry of Defence (MOD) Civil Servants do deploy in support of our Armed Forces during overseas operations, they are not generally deployed on the front line of military operations and are not ordinarily exposed to the same risks and dangers as Service personnel. As a result, the justification for the additional protection provided by the statutory presumption against prosecution to Armed Forces personnel would not be present in relation to Civil Servants.

The provisions on civil litigation in Part 2 of the Bill relate to claims brought against the MOD, the Secretary of State for Defence, or any member of Her Majesty's forces in connection with overseas operations. These provisions will apply to all claimants in the same way.

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