Contributions
1,690 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q On the issue around the International Criminal Court, in that case, you could argue to them that it would be judicially independent oversight, and that is the important point.…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q So it would not be an automatic cut-off. Judge Blackett: No, no. It is basically judicial supervision. It comes back to what I was saying about better case management in the…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q In your letter to the Secretary of State you said: “The bill as drafted is not the answer.” You have been very clear on that today. You have made four suggestions there. I can…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q In that case, he was charged with murder and convicted of murder and then, on appeal, that new evidence came in and it was reduced to manslaughter. Is that correct? Judge…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q I am aware of the criminal case review because I have just been involved with the Post Office Horizon cases that are going before that. It is a high test to get them there, but…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Can I just ask one question about the ombudsman?08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q That is one of the things I argued very strongly for when we did the Deepcut inquiry—it came out of that in the early 2000s. The problem with the ombudsman is that he or she can…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q I raise that because if you were in civilian life and were accused of something in line with your employment, you could go, for example, to a trade union, which would provide…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Can I turn to the issues around investigations? You talk about the duty of care and the chain of command—I know it well, and how it works sometimes and does not work at other…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q I agree with you on that, but the Bill does not stop potential prosecutions by the International Criminal Court. The problem with this legislation as it is drafted is that it…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Hi, Chris. In terms of the cases you have dealt with, we have already heard from other witnesses that the real issue is the length of time these investigations take. We took…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Can I—08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Do you have concerns—I certainly do—that there is a danger that the way in which the Bill is constructed could give credence to some of those who are advocating the abolition of…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)It is there already in section 33 of the Limitation Act 1980. The Bill is carving veterans out of it, which I certainly do not agree with at all.08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q But what this is doing is putting veterans at disadvantage by comparison with what I or you can do as a civilian, in terms of taking a case outside the Limitation Act 1980. It…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q That would clear out a lot of frivolous and vexatious cases, the difference being that it would not be about a presumption not to prosecute. An independent legal body—a judge or…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q But they are slightly different, in the sense that they have recourse to, for example, in the ambulance service, a trade union, or the Police Federation. Lieutenant Colonel…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q Would the judge have the ability, if he or she were not satisfied with the evidence put forward, to say, “You should investigate it further”? Judge Blackett: Absolutely, yes.08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)Q On raising the bar, how would that work in effect? Judge Blackett: The way I described it when we had our meeting with the Minister was relating to the Criminal Cases Review…08 Oct 2020HANSARDOverseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill (Fourth sitting)No, it would not.08 Oct 2020