UK to derogate from ECHR to prevent foreign combat claims

Proposed derogations from the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to the actions of British troops involved in foreign conflicts, were announced at the Conservative Party Conference today.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that in future conflicts, subject to a vote of both Houses of Parliament, the UK would "derogate" from article 2 (right to life) and article 5 (right to liberty) of the Convention.

Troops will remain subject to other articles of the Convention, including the prohibition on torture. The changes will not apply retrospectively.

The Government claims the derogations will prevent "vexatious" claims being brought against the armed forces by foreign civilians. 

The Ministry of Defence has spent at least £20m on claims arising from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hundreds more cases are still under investigation.

Mr Fallon told the conference: "This is not about putting our armed forces above the law; they wouldn't want that. They have to comply with the criminal law of this country and, of course, with the Geneva Conventions.

"Serious claims must be investigated, but spurious claims will be stopped and our armed forces will now be able to do their job fighting the enemy and not the lawyers."

It is thought that the announcement will not affect the ability of service personnel and their dependants to bring actions alleging that they have sustained death or injury due to being provided with inadequate equipment.

Human rights lawyers have pointed to cases such as that reported last month, when a judge condemned four UK soldiers who "forced" an Iraqi boy into a canal and let him drown.

Other allegations have been found to be unfounded, such as those that were the subject of the Al-Sweady inquiry in 2014.