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Court Martial Judgment

My Lords, the noble Lord makes several points relating to the difficulty of the operational environment that our soldiers face. He is absolutely right to do so. We should not underestimate the challenge that they face. However, we should also note that the view of the judge, taking into account all of the aspects mentioned by the noble Lord, was that it was right and proper for the case to be brought. On the point about the failure to identify and exhume the body, noble Lords will wish to know that the family concerned refused the exhumation of the body. On the steps to be taken, we accept that there are lessons to be learnt for investigating practices, taking into account the difficult realities on the ground. We are investigating and reviewing those now. Once we have made some interim conclusions on what changes need to be made, I will report those to the House.