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Armed Forces Bill

moved Amendment No. 28: Page 5, line 22, at end insert- ““( ) A person subject to service law commits an offence if subsection (1) or (2) applies to him.”” The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 29, 30, 50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 69, 87 and 88. These are government amendments to Clauses 9, 24, 31, 33 and 58. I hope that I am able to deal with the amendments to Clauses 9, 24, 31 and 33 pretty briefly; that is, all the amendments I have referred to except Amendment No. 69, which I will come back to in a moment. I have recently written to noble Lords to explain these amendments in more detail, but I can confirm that they are intended only to simplify the clauses without making any changes to their substantive effect. In the circumstances I urge noble Lords to accept them. On Amendment No. 69, Clause 58 imposes a six-month time limit in which to prosecute civilians who cease to be subject to service law. Subsections (5) and (6) of Clause 58 create an exception to this. Some civilians are subject to service discipline by virtue of the fact that they reside or work in a particular geographical area. The exception is necessary to ensure that the six-month time limit does not begin to run simply because the civilian temporarily leaves the geographical area in which he or she resides. However, civilians can become subject to service discipline for reasons other than the fact that they live or work in a particular geographical area. The amendment is necessary to ensure that this exception applies to all civilians who are subject to service discipline but who may temporarily cease to be so subject. I urge noble Lords to accept the amendment.