Overseas Operations (Service Personnel And Veterans) Act 2021

Overview of the Act

1. The Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act includes the following provisions:
   1. Measures that will apply when decisions are made by prosecutors in relation to the prosecution of current or former Service personnel for historical offences allegedly committed overseas.
      1. Firstly, a presumption against prosecution. This provision raises the threshold to be applied by prosecutors when considering whether a service person or veteran should be prosecuted in such cases, by stipulating that it is to be exceptional for a prosecutor to determine that a prosecution should be brought.
      2. Secondly, the prosecutor must give particular weight to the adverse impact of the particular conditions the person was exposed to and the exceptional demands and stresses of overseas operations on a Service person (including on their ability to make sound judgements and on their mental health) and, in cases where there have been previous investigations and no compelling new evidence has emerged, the public interest in finality.
      3. Thirdly, if a prosecutor determines that, notwithstanding the presumption, it is appropriate for a prosecution to be brought, the consent of the Attorney General for England and Wales or the Advocate General for Northern Ireland will then be required for the prosecution to proceed.
2. These measures apply where the prosecutor’s decision concerns a "relevant offence". The definition of "relevant offence" covers all offences, save for those listed in Schedule 1. 1
   1. Restriction of judicial discretion to allow certain civil claims connected with overseas operations. This further restricts the court’s discretion to extend the normal time limit of three years for bringing civil claims for personal injury and/or death connected with historical events outside the UK by requiring the court to have particular regard to additional factors (in addition to those that already exist) when deciding whether to allow a claim to proceed beyond the three-year limitation period. Those new factors include, for example, particular regard to the likely impact of the operational context on the ability to remember events and the likely impact of any legal proceedings on the mental health of any service personnel witnesses.
   2. Restriction of judicial discretion to allow claims under the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) connected with overseas operations. This requires the court to have particular regard to various factors (as set out in the bullet point above for civil claims for personal injury and/or death) when considering whether to extend the primary limitation period of one year.
   3. Limitation longstop for civil claims connected with operations overseas. There is also an absolute limitation longstop of six years which will prevent claims being brought more than six years after the date of incident, or more than six years after the date of knowledge.
   4. Changes to private international law rules for personal injury and death claims connected with overseas operations. The Act amends existing legislation to provide that when the limitation periods of another country are applied to these claims, there will be an absolute limitation longstop of six years.
   5. Limitation longstop for claims under the HRA connected with overseas operations. This similarly imposes an absolute limitation longstop of six years for bringing HRA claims connected with overseas operations. This means there is a consistent approach to the absolute limitation periods for both personal injury and death claims and for HRA claims connected with overseas operations. The time for the longstop on HRA claims will be calculated from the date of the act. If the date of knowledge is later than the date of the incident, then claimants will have an additional one year to make a claim, provided that one-year period ends more than six years after the date of the act.