Written submissions are invited from interested groups and individuals focusing on the following issues:
- What evidence supports the Government’s view that "our legal system has been abused to level false charges against our troops on an industrial scale"?
- What evidence supports the Government’s view that the extra-territorial applicability of the ECHR undermines the operational effectiveness of the Armed Forces?
- Are the substantive requirements of Article 15 ECHR likely to be satisfied in the circumstances in which the Government intends to derogate?
- Are there alternatives to derogation which would achieve the Government’s objective of protecting the armed forces against unfounded legal claims?
- Are there any wider implications of the UK derogating from the extra-territorial application of the Convention in military operations, such as effects on other countries or on the European system for the collective enforcement of human rights?
- Should the derogating measures be contained in primary legislation?
- Is it appropriate for the Ministry of Defence to have lead responsibility for a policy the purpose of which is to protect the MoD from legal claims?