Richard Benyon, Member of Parliament for Newbury, today called for a statute of limitation to be created for current and former armed service personnel.
Richard introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill in Parliament today, seeking to create statutory limitations on bringing court proceedings against current and former armed service personnel for alleged offences committed during military operations.
The Bill is being introduced in light of the growth of the legal industry that has developed in recent years and the actions taken by the Legacy Investigations Branch in Northern Ireland.
Explaining why he wanted to introduce the Bill, Richard said, “This industry of ‘lawfare’ has developed where politically motivated and sometimes dishonest lawyers seek to use conflicts such as Afghanistan and Iraq to bring cases, sometimes over a decade old, before the courts.
“In the case of Northern Ireland, much has been done to appease terrorists through the Good Friday Agreement and the on-the-runs letters. Now some balance is required to protect veterans from being pursued into old age”
“The reason for this Bill is bring back fairness and not penalise those former service personnel who served our country so well, put themselves in harm’s way for our safety and who deserve to live a peaceful retirement.”