Select Committee on Defence Fourth Report



APPENDIX TO THE REPORT

Memorandum from the Ministry of Defence, dated 6 April 1999

1.  On 2 February 1998 the Committee published its Second Report, which considered the draft Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) (Amendment) Order 1998 (HC 521). The report noted that MoD was engaged in a full revision of its parent Order, the Visiting Forces and International Headquarters (Application of Law) Order 1965. The review is now complete. The draft revised Order preserves the principles of the 1965 Order, and applies them to current legislation. It does not introduce any substantive new provisions.

2.  The International Headquarters and Defence Organisations (Designations and Privileges) Order 1965 is, to a large extent, complementary and is also out of date. A draft amendment Order has been prepared, which it is intended to lay before Parliament at the same time as the draft revised Application of Law Order.

3.  The aim of this memorandum, which supplements the usual Explanatory Memorandum, is to outline for the Defence Committee the provisions of both draft Orders in Council prior to them being laid before Parliament.

DRAFT VISITING FORCES AND INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS (APPLICATION OF LAW) ORDER 1999

4.  The principle under which NATO countries grant legal immunities and privileges to visiting forces from other members of the Alliance is set out in the 1951 NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). In UK law these provisions are put into effect in the main by the Visiting Forces Act 1952 and the Visiting Forces (Application of Law) Order 1965.

5.  The 1965 Application of Law Order applies certain elements of domestic legislation to visiting forces and headquarters, as if they were part of the home forces. This enables us to meet our NATO SOFA obligations, although the Order also includes other provisions that are a matter of international arrangement and custom and practice. In either case these are necessary for the efficient operation and organisation of visiting forces and headquarters in the UK. The draft revised Order brings these provisions up to date.

6.  It also completes the process begun by the amendment Order last year of bringing PfP countries within the provisions of the Order, once individual Governments have ratified the PfP Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). It also substantially completes the legislative process necessary to enable the UK Government to ratify the Agreement, which will enable the UK's armed forces to enjoy similar immunities and privileges while engaged in exercises in Partner countries.   

7.  A summary of the main provisions of the draft Order is attached at Annex A.

DRAFT INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AND DEFENCE ORGANISATIONS (DESIGNATIONS AND PRIVILEGES) (AMENDMENT) ORDER 1999

8.  The draft Order updates the list of headquarters designated by the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations (Designations and Privileges) Order 1965. The 1965 Order, together with the International Headquarters and Defence Organisations Act 1964 under which it is made, substantially implements the UK's obligations under the 1952 Protocol to the NATO SOFA on the status of international military headquarters (the Paris Protocol).

9.  The 1965 Order lists in a Schedule those headquarters designated under the 1964 Act. The main effect of this designation is to extend the Visiting Forces Act 1952 to all headquarters listed, and their members. It is only headquarters designated under the 1964 Act which may be included within the scope of the Application of Law Order (above).

10.  The 1965 Order also confers on headquarters—

    —  the legal capacity of a corporation;

    —  immunity from suit and legal process;

    —  inviolability of official archives.

All these privileges apply to the Supreme Headquarters, which are listed in Part I of the Schedule to the 1965 Order. The remaining headquarters, listed in Part II of the Schedule, benefit only from inviolability of archives.

11.  The draft Order substitutes a new Part II of the Schedule. The majority of those headquarters listed in the new Part II have been included previously, but the new entries are:

    (a) HQ Maritime Air Forces North West

    (b) HQ Submarine Forces North West

    (c) HQ UK-Netherlands Amphibious Force

    (d) HQ UK-Netherlands Landing Force.

12.  Headquarters designated previously, but which have now lapsed and are no longer listed, are:

    (a) The Channel Committee; and

    (b) HQ Commander Allied Maritime Air Force Channel.


 
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Prepared 23 April 1999