I am sure that the House is grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention.
Lying behind recent cases has been the perception—we all know the importance of perception, and my hon. Friend the Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) made that clear—that if it is not the European Court of Human Rights, it is the International Criminal Court that is exerting a pressure. Whether the Secretary of State likes it or not, that is the impression that is being created. It is a serious matter. My view is that it has been wrong that we in the United Kingdom, and particularly we in this Parliament, have been obliged to change the regulations by which our armed forces are governed to meet the requirements of a court.
I see that the Secretary of State shakes his head. The Armed Forces Discipline Act 2000 was directly the result of a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights. One of the reasons why we have a tri-service Bill, if I might tell the Secretary of State why he is introducing the Bill, is because there have been a number of Acts since 1955 and 1957—separate services Acts—arising directly out of decisions made by the European Court of Human Rights, to which the House has felt obliged to respond.
I note that the Secretary of State wishes to intervene. As long as his hon. Friend the Minister does not keep tapping his watch at me, I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman.
Armed Forces Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Gerald Howarth
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Monday, 12 December 2005.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Armed Forces Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
440 c1195-6 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2024-04-21 13:36:12 +0100
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