The Joint Committee on Human Rights wrote to the Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon MP, in October 2016, asking for a full explanation of the Government’s proposal to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to protect the Armed Forces from legal claims arising from future overseas operations.
The Committee has asked to be provided with a detailed memorandum:
- setting out the reasons why the Government considers a derogation from the ECHR to be necessary
- identifying the evidence which demonstrates that necessity
- explaining why the pre-conditions for a valid derogation are met
- addressing the wider implications of the proposed derogation for the European system of human rights protection
- indicating the Government’s plans to facilitate parliamentary scrutiny of the derogation