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Armed Forces Bill

There is no excuse for delay either in a military court martial or in a civil court of law, but I disagree with the hon. Gentleman. In such cases, if the service policeman gets the evidence together and investigates the case—the one cited by the hon. Gentleman sounds very serious—and it is not thought that there is a case to prosecute, it will not get to the court martial. It may be easy to dismiss this measure flippantly, but I think that it protects the commanding officer. In the Trooper Williams case, would we have got to where we were if the evidence had been brought together at an earlier stage? I do not think so. I agree that early collection of the facts and evidence is vital in these cases to stop delay. Delay does not add to justice and it leads in some cases to the terrible outcomes to which the hon. Gentleman referred. If we do not have this measure and have a situation where a commanding officer can dismiss the case, that will leave the commanding officer open later to all types of accusations that he is covering up for his subordinates and others. I am not suggesting that that happens in any case, but they could be open to that accusation. If they have the police’s evidence and involvement, it gives that protection at that stage.