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Armed Forces: Chain of Command

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Alloway, on the subject of this debate. The integrity and legal authority of the chain of command is central to the effectiveness of our Armed Forces and to the fair treatment of all our people who serve so bravely in it. Nothing is more important that that. I am grateful to the noble Lord for providing the opportunity for the House to focus on this vital subject. The debate is timely. Many noble Lords have mentioned the concerns that currently exist in our forces, and we recognise that that is the case. The noble and gallant Lords, Lord Bramall and Lord Boyce, stated their deep disquiet. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Inge, stated his concern that the chain of command is being eroded. The noble Viscount, Lord Slim, and others, have stated their real concerns over political correctness. I am glad today to have the opportunity to address those concerns directly, to show that they are unfounded and to underline the Government’s commitments to maintaining a clear and unambiguous chain of command in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. This has been an excellent debate, which has yet again shown the deep experience and knowledge of defence matters that so distinguishes this House. I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken, especially those noble and gallant Lords on the Cross Benches who have drawn on their distinguished service in the Armed Forces. I am also grateful for their contributions made to me directly since I recently took up my post in the Ministry of   Defence. I congratulate, too, my noble friend Lord Moonie, who made an excellent maiden speech. The noble Lord, Lord Marlesford, and the noble Baroness, Lady Park, mentioned overstretch in the military. Our Armed Forces have a hard-earned and thoroughly deserved international reputation for effectiveness in the full range of modern military tasks from war fighting to peace support. Our forces are the best in the world—nowhere has that been more clearly demonstrated than in Iraq. They continue to make a substantial contribution towards the creation of a free, democratic and stable Iraq as well as to the many other operational theatres in which they are engaged. I was pleased to be able to see that for myself on a visit to troops in Basra between 6 and 8 July last week. I was struck by the enthusiasm and professionalism of everyone I spoke to at all ranks. They are dedicated to fulfilling their task to the very best of their ability. I was particularly struck by some young majors who are   responsible for mentoring and training the Iraqi police, Iraqi army, and the Iraqi Department for Border Enforcement. They are all highly-motivated individuals with a real enthusiasm for helping the Iraqis to learn and develop. They knew that they were making a difference, and they knew that their help was appreciated. Going on patrol with the 12th Mechanised Brigade near the Shatt al-Arab hotel, I saw for myself the improving situation in the area, the cars on the roads, and the Iraqi people going about their business. Of course, I understand that there is still huge trauma in Iraq. There are wide variations in the picture across the country. One only had to see the news last night of the horrific suicide bombing of 12 children in Baghdad to see that. The greatest tragedy is the continued murder by terrorists in Iraq of Iraqi people who are trying to secure the freedoms and the liberties that we enjoy. Seeing our brave young men and women working to help those people achieve that was an inspiration to me. It proved to me that what we are doing in Iraq is a right and noble cause, and that what we state as our core values of the British Armed Forces being a force for good in the world is true, is real, and is happening today in Iraq to make it and the world a better place. However, we recognise that what we ask of our people in places such as Basra puts great strain on them, as the noble Baroness highlighted. Nation-building in a country so ravaged by years of poverty, oppression and conflict as Iraq is difficult. On top of that, as the noble Lord, Lord Astor, highlighted, our forces are under scrutiny every day in the 21st century world of 24-hour news, embedded journalists and highly active and vocal NGOs. The vital importance of our system of discipline and chain of command cannot be overemphasised. It must deliver both the military effectiveness and the high ethical standards that we demand of our Armed Forces. The overwhelming majority of our personnel have served in Iraq with honour and distinction. I am very proud of what they have achieved and continue to achieve, and I know that my ministerial colleagues feel the same. Only a very small number have been involved in incidents that have resulted in criminal prosecutions—we should not overstate the issue. As several noble and gallant Lords will know much better than I do, such incidents have had to be dealt with in the past—in Northern Ireland, for example. That said, I recognise that the focus in the media and other places on the handling of those incidents has led to concerns in some quarters, and in particular in our Armed Forces, over the process of legal oversight. I stress that we recognise that those concerns exist, and we are addressing them. I welcome the opportunity today to correct some misapprehensions and set out why these concerns are unfounded. All that reflects what has long been the case: that the Armed Forces operate within the law and the country has confidence that this is the case. Surely no noble Lord would argue that this is not so? They must encompass respect for the law. As the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, said, everyone in this House accepts that. If allegations are made of serious offences, it is right and proper that the service police investigate them. It has been suggested that they are overzealous in conducting those investigations, but I assure noble Lords that they operate to appropriate professional standards and are not subject to any political direction, or direction from higher authority, to do more than that. I am sure that noble Lords have not forgotten those members of the Royal Military Police murdered by a mob in Basra. I also stress that the 176 cases that have been referred to today are the number of investigations carried out by the service police into allegations of wrongdoing against Iraqis since the start of operations in Iraq. Some 100 of those 176 cases related to incidents where British forces were fired upon. There are not 176 prosecutions—151 investigations have been closed with no further action. That needs to be seen in the context of some 70,000 personnel who have served in Iraq. There is nothing new in service personnel being investigated for alleged crimes, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd, highlighted. It happened, for example, as a result of the Falklands and Bosnia campaigns. Investigations did not start with the establishment of the International Criminal Court. My noble friend Lord Hoyle mentioned the Baha Musa case. He will understand that I cannot discuss that case, which is currently being considered by the Army prosecuting authority. A decision is expected shortly. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Mayhew, the noble Lord, Lord Garden, and others raised the propriety of referring the Trooper Williams case to the Attorney-General. I shall make some points about that case. Once concerns had been raised in Army Legal Services about the legal advice given to the commanding officer, it was necessary and proper for the Army to bring the matter to the Attorney-General’s attention, because the military justice system was no longer able to deal with the case. The final judge made no criticism of any of those involved. Throughout all investigations, those accused are entitled to and will receive support and guidance from their chain of command before, during and after any investigation. That includes access to independent legal assistance. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord Bramall, my   noble friend Lady Dean and the noble Lord, Lord   Campbell, highlighted the case of Trooper Williams, who behaved with great dignity throughout. He was supported by the Army, who appointed a full-time assisting officer to ensure that he had all the information and help that he needed and to provide a liaison point for the Army and his defence team. The cost of his defence was met in full by the Ministry of Defence. During his time on bail, the Army ensured that he remained gainfully employed. As for all soldiers, his welfare was the Army’s primary concern. My noble friend Lord Tunnicliffe mentioned the great burden of uncertainty that Trooper Williams had to bear. Timeliness is key. I assure the House that lessons have been learnt from his case. The military justice system is the bedrock of the chain of command. It applies to wrongs done by one member of the Armed Forces to another and to wrongs done by a member of the Armed Forces to a civilian. We see the commanding officer as central to the authority of the chain of command. He is the primary authority responsible not only for his unit’s discipline but for the command, training, safety, security, education, health, welfare, morale and general efficiency of his troops. That wide span of responsibility illustrates why it is so important that the commanding officer is able to exercise disciplinary powers. He is uniquely placed to understand the circumstances of service life and of his particular unit and, hence, the causes and significance of misconduct. Many of the issues raised during our debate have been prompted by concerns over the International Criminal Court and the European Convention on Human Rights. The noble and gallant Lord, Lord   Guthrie, asked for answers. I am happy to give them, but first I shall deal briefly with a number of misunderstandings about the ICC. It has been suggested there is a real possibility that our forces will find themselves standing in the dock on trial in The Hague, whether the UK likes it or not. That is wrong, and I shall explain why. The court’s jurisdiction is carefully set out in the ICC statute. The entire premise of the court is based on the principle that it can only—I repeat, only—exercise its jurisdiction when a state is unable or unwilling genuinely to investigate or prosecute itself. Surely we do not envisage that the United Kingdom will ever be in that position. I am happy to reassure noble Lords, in particular the noble and gallant Lords, Lord Inge, Lord Guthrie and Lord Boyce, that it is unthinkable for British forces personnel to be sent to the ICC. At Second Reading of the International Criminal Court Bill in the other place in 2001, the Foreign Secretary told the House that,"““British service personnel will never be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court because any bona fide allegation will be pursued by the British authorities””.—[Official Report, Commons, 3/4/2001; col. 222.]" We remain confident that UK authorities will always act properly. As long as they do, there will never be any basis for the ICC to exercise jurisdiction. Some have also suggested that the ICC will be politically driven and cannot be trusted to act properly. The Government have complete confidence in the independence and integrity of the court and the prosecutor. We are in good company in that judgment; 99 countries have so far ratified the statute, including 22 of our 25 NATO partners and 22 Commonwealth countries. We have nothing to fear from the ICC. Another myth is that, by ratifying the statute and enacting the International Criminal Court Act 2001, the Government have exposed our forces to a risk of prosecution that they did not previously face. That is not the case. Those who oppose the ICC often overlook the fact that, before we ratified the ICC statute, the UK had already fought one conflict while subject to the jurisdiction of an international criminal tribunal. I now turn to the European Convention on Human Rights. It seems ironic that those who are concerned about the possibility of our soldiers being subject to unfair prosecution also express concern about the convention. That perhaps relates to a misunderstanding of the convention’s role. The primary purpose of Article 6 is to ensure a fair trial for the individual. However, although the convention has resulted in developments in the service system and means that its fairness is under scrutiny, it should not be thought that the effect of the convention is to endanger our military system of justice. We should note the Baines case, in which the High Court, in its judgment on the case, upheld our system of commanding officers’ summary jurisdiction as fully compliant with human rights law. We were pleased but not surprised at that decision. The noble Lord, Lord   Astor, expressed his wish that the Ministry of Defence had expressed pleasure at the outcome of the Trooper Williams case. I am pleased to have the opportunity to express our pleasure, but not our surprise, at the outcome of the Baines case. I must make it clear that we see no merit in attempting to put our Armed Forces outside the convention, as has been raised. The United Kingdom ratified the convention without reservation in 1951, and successive governments have adhered to its principles and abided by the rulings of the European court. No one would argue that our forces have become less effective as a consequence of that. The Government do not believe that the military justice system is in any way undermined by the convention. Indeed, for over 50 years the formulation of policy and regulations for the Armed Forces has taken account of compliance with the convention. Various aspects of military life and operations have been affected by it, although some of those changes may have happened anyway. I am thinking particularly of the changes to procedures for summary trials and courts martial to ensure compliance with the right to a fair trial. As noble Lords will be aware, we propose to introduce an Armed Forces Bill later this year. With my honourable friend the Under-Secretary of State, I had the opportunity yesterday to speak to a number of your Lordships about some of the thinking about a number of areas in the Bill. I hope that those who were able to attend found the occasion useful. We are fully committed to maintaining a separate system of service law, able to deal with a wide range of disciplinary and criminal matters. I am happy to give the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Boyce, a clear statement of our commitment to that. We are clear about the essential nature of the ability of the commanding officer to exercise discipline in respect of those under his command, but the system must be fair, efficient and compliant with the European convention. We ask an enormous amount from members of the Armed Forces, and we owe them nothing less. The Bill will be a tangible demonstration of our commitment to a system of service law and will underline our determination to uphold the integrity and legal authority of the chain of command. I appreciate that there is a degree of frustration that we have not been able to publish the Bill in draft as yet. That may have contributed to some of the concerns that noble Lords have mentioned. It will be complex legislation. I look forward to further meetings with noble Lords through this year, as we move towards the Bill. We are making a strong effort to share our thinking to make sure that those with an interest have confidence in the approach that we are taking. Noble Lords will hear me state time and again in the area of my responsibilities for defence procurement and equipment the need for our Armed Forces to adapt and modernise to face new threats. The legal framework also has to be reformed, and we are working on that today. Your Lordships will of course have the full opportunity to scrutinise the detailed proposals when the Bill is published later this year, and I look forward to our discussions. In the time available, I have not been able to answer every question raised today. Where that is the case, I will write to noble Lords. However, I hope that I have been able to address the key points of concern and to state clearly the Government’s position; to underline that the Government are listening and, as important, are acting; and to restate that they are firmly in support of our Armed Forces and that the Army Bill, on which we are working, is a central part of that action. The Secretary of State and the Chief of the Defence Staff stand ready to meet noble and gallant Lords and other Peers who have raised concerns today about the military justice system and the International Criminal Court. They would welcome the opportunity to listen at first hand to the concerns and to explain further the Government’s position.