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Armed Forces Bill

moved AmendmentNo. 60: Page 18, line 28, at end insert- ““( ) No civilian subject to service discipline under the age of 18 years may be prosecuted before the Court Martial for an offence under this section.”” The noble Lord said: The amendment deals with juveniles subject to appearances before courts martial. As the Committee knows, we are extremely careful and cautious in dealing with juvenile offenders, in how the case is handled in court, how it is prosecuted and decided, and what forms of punishment or treatment are involved as a result of appearance in a juvenile court. However, this Bill permits juveniles who are civilians to be brought before a court martial, when they have not themselves joined the services but happen to be under the jurisdiction of that court because, for example, their parents are service people, or for some other reason—they are serving abroad with the British forces. I respectfully say that that is contrary to our whole approach to juvenile justice. I add, for your Lordships’ further consideration, that unlike the juvenile courts of this country, the panel that hears these cases by way of court martial has nil experience of the various ways of dealing with juveniles. Although they can be advised by the judge advocate sitting with them, they do not have to take his advice. As I have already pointed out in the previous amendment, they can decide sentencing by way of a majority. I had the unfortunate experience of representing a young man of 17 who was charged with murder. He was dealt with by court martial in Germany, notwithstanding that he awaited his trial in prison in this country and was taken back to Germany, where his father had left the services, to be tried under a court martial. The matter went to the Appellate Committee of this House, which upheld the conviction, but it has lived with me—we should not be dealing with youngsters in that way. That is the motivation behind Amendment No. 60. Grouped with it is the objection to the whole concept of the court martial dealing with civilian offences. This broad subject has been addressed on many occasions, not least before the Appellate Committee. We have given and continue to give courts martial the right to deal with civilian offences; that is to say, they are dealing not with disciplinary matters but with people who have committed ordinary crimes on the statute book. I know that I will not persuade your Lordships that this system, which has operated for a long time, should be changed, but what I am saying is perhaps one step further along the road to confining military courts martial to what they should be confined to: disciplining the service men under their control. They should not deal with civilians, particularly not with youthful civilians and civil offences. I put my focus on Amendment No. 60, because the Bill does not give proper consideration to how juveniles subject to service discipline should be dealt with. The Bill sets up service civilian courts, and the rules proposed and promoted for those courts should encompass the sort of things that we have in a juvenile court in this country. There must be enough people of sufficient experience to sit on the equivalent of a juvenile panel. I would like to see under-18s dealt with by that service civil court sitting as the equivalent of a juvenile panel in this country. That panel should have experience of the way in which we deal with juveniles. I beg to move.