Protection for service personnel

Service personnel will be protected from “vexatious claims and endless investigations” under legislation to be debated by MPS for the first time, the Defence Secretary has said.

Ben Wallace said the Overseas Operations( Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, which will receive its second reading in the Commons today, would provide “certainty” for troops. The Bill seeks to limit false and historical alle - ga ti ons arising from overseas operations by introducing a statutory presumption against prosecution, making it exceptional for personnel to be prosecuted five years or more after an incident. To override the presumption, the consent of the Attorney General will be required and the prosecutor must weigh up the “adverse impact of overseas operations on service personnel” and, where there has been no compelling new evidence, the public interest in a “timely conclusion”.