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Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill

Moved by

Lord Tunnicliffe

1: Clause 2, leave out Clause 2 and insert the following new Clause—

“Ability to conduct a fair trial

The principle referred to in section 1(1) is that a relevant prosecutor making a decision to which that section applies may determine that proceedings should be brought against the person for the offence, or, as the case may be, that the proceedings against the person for the offence should be continued, only if the prosecutor has reasonable grounds for believing that the fair trial of the person has not been materially prejudiced by the time elapsed since the alleged conduct took place.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new Clause replaces the presumption against prosecution with a requirement on a prosecutor deciding whether to bring or continue a prosecution to consider whether the passage of time has materially prejudiced the prospective defendant’s chance of a fair trial.