Page 8 - BNVTA News November 2020

6
campaign Summer 2020
Optimism for the British
Nuclear Test Veterans with the
Overseas Operations' Bill
In March 2020, the Overseas Operations (service personnel and veterans) Bill was introduced to Parliament by the Right Hon Johnny Mercer MP. The Bill was created to protect service personnel and veterans from repeated investigations, despite no new evidence, in connection with historical overseas operations years after the original events.
The government thought it necessary to provide a greater legal protection to armed forces personnel and veterans who had served on military operations overseas by introducing a “triple lock”:
1. A presumption against prosecution in respect of alleged offences committed on overseas military operations more than five years ago.
2. A requirement for prosecutors to give particular weight to certain matters in reaching decisions in such cases.
3. A requirement to obtain consent of the Attorney General, or, in the case of Northern Ireland, the Advocate General, before a prosecution can proceed.
(Source: www.gov.uk website).
The Bill planned:
• For the court to consider the operational context when deciding whether to extend the normal time limits for bringing civil claims for personal injury or death and for bringing HRA claims (claims for declarations and/or damages) in connection with overseas operations.
• To introduce a long-stop restricting to an absolute maximum of six years the time limit for bringing civil claims for personal injury or death and for bringing in HRA claims in connection with overseas operations.
• To ensure that all future governments are compelled to consider derogating from the European Convention on Human Rights in relating to significant overseas military operations.
Effectively, this Bill set out to be a significantly negative step for Britain’s nuclear test veterans, by terminating any chance of claiming compensation in relation to the nuclear tests. Susie Boniface, reporter at the Daily Mirror and author of the Damned.mirror.co.uk, an in-depth report of the British nuclear tests and veterans, contacted our Chair, Ceri, in September, before the Second Reading. Susie suggested that Ceri should write to Johnny Mercer MP, the Minister for Defence, People and Veterans at the MOD. Ceri emailed, expressing thanks on behalf of the BNTVA, and stated that despite
positive changes being introduced over the summer by the Office of Veterans’ Affairs concerning eligibility criteria for British Nuclear Test Veterans War Pension claims, the BNTVA had become increasingly concerned that the proposed legislation would be detrimental to British nuclear test veterans by negatively affecting claims for compensation for the effects of radiological exposure at the British nuclear tests, by barring personal injury claims for our veterans.
Also, the Bill would negatively affect claims for compensation for the effects of radiological exposure at the British nuclear tests by barring personal injury claims for British nuclear test veterans.
On 16 October, our Chair, Ceri, received the following reply from Mr Mercer. Mr Mercer assured the BNTVA that War Pension claims would be unaffected by the Bill, but the reply brought up more questions for the BNTVA to ask concerning the six-year rule and future compensation claims, so Ceri contacted the Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO)