Blog post: Proposed Amendments to the Human Rights Act to Disadvantage UK War Crimes Victims

On 18 March the UK Minister for Defence introduced into the UK Parliament his promised package of new legislation designed to ‘protect veterans’. Entitled the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, the proposed laws would amend the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) in ways that impact on its human rights obligations, including under the ECHR. This blog deals particularly with the question of how the Bill would limit compensation for war crimes victims in UK courts, and whether these limitations are consistent with the UK's ECHR obligations.