Statutory Instruments
Defence
Made
13th December 2023
Coming into force
14th December 2023
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 13th day of December 2023
Present,
The King’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
It appears to His Majesty that, having regard to the arrangements for defence and security co-operation between the United Kingdom and Kosovo, the provisions of the Visiting Forces Act 1952(1) (“the 1952 Act”) following section 1 should have effect in relation to Kosovo:
Accordingly, His Majesty, on the advice of His Privy Council and in exercise of the powers conferred on Him by sections 1(2) and 15(2) of the 1952 Act, makes the following Order:
1. This Order may be cited as the Visiting Forces (Designation) Order (No. 2) 2023 and shall come in to force on 14th December 2023.
2. Kosovo is hereby designated for the purposes of the 1952 Act.
3. This Order shall not extend to any of the territories specified in section 15(3) of the 1952 Act.
Ceri King
Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council
(This note is not part of the Order)
Arrangements for defence and security co-operation in place between the United Kingdom and Kosovo have resulted in increasingly close defence co-operation, and Kosovo joining UK led exercises and activities.
The development of the defence relationships with Kosovo means that the arrangements now require reciprocal concurrent jurisdictional provision. In order to support that requirement, it is necessary to designate Kosovo as a country to which the Visiting Forces Act 1952 applies.
1952 c. 67; section 1(2) was amended by section 33 of the Armed Forces Act 1996 c. 46.