The Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act
"20 Feb 06
Secretary of State for Defence John Reid has called for a greater understanding of the challenges faced by UK military personnel, and less uninformed criticism.
Finally, our Forces perceive that they are increasingly constrained on the battlefield by human rights legislation, European and International law. We must reassure them that they operate under British law and British law only."
The above is extracted from the Defence Internet website and shows that the HRA is also taken into consideration on the battlefield.
The next is another extract from the same site which, although talking about the Court Martial and disciplinary system, reflects equally on the "Service Test" process.
Why do the armed forces need a separate system of law?
Service personnel do jobs that are often dangerous and involve the use of force, sometimes using the most intense military violence involving great bravery and sacrifice. They often serve outside the United Kingdom; outside the jurisdiction of the UK courts. Few civilian jobs require a commitment that compares with these extraordinary demands. In addition, high standards of discipline are essential to support operational effectiveness. These are standards which are distinctive to the armed forces and which penalise certain conduct such as absence without leave or disobeying a lawful command, which would not be appropriate in civilian employment.
To maintain discipline, to enable service personnel to do their jobs effectively and to comply with our international legal obligations, we have to retain a separate internal military justice system.
Whilst serving in the UK service personnel are dealt with under civilian law like any other British citizen if they comment an offence. The Armed Forces are regularly required to operate overseas and in such cases they can no longer be dealt with under domestic law if they commit an offence. The military justice system ensures that they are dealt with fairly and consistently wherever they are serving in the world.
These are the difficult areas that P1 Sections and Chf Clk's face when someone makes a complaint about someone else's behaviour. Remember, TG17 are not the morale police trawling bars and SFQs looking for inappropriate behaviour, they only react to complaints.
Therefore, I believe that TBJ is right in that the HRA does not only apply to operational areas.