LONDON: Britain announced plans on Tuesday to opt out of European human rights law during wartime, in a move to end “vexatious” legal claims against its troops but campaigners denounced it as a retrograde step.
The government wants to sidestep some of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in future conflicts, after the law was used in thousands of cases against troops relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Those who serve on the frontline will have our support when they come home,” Prime Minister Theresa May said.
“We will repay them with gratitude and put an end to the industry of vexatious claims that has pursued those who served in previous conflicts.”
Signatories of the ECHR are allowed to derogate from some of its provisions in times of war or public emergencies threatening life, and France, Ukraine and Turkey have used the opt-out in the past two years.
There is no derogation from the prohibition of torture or slavery, but there can be an opt-out on “right to life” in respect of deaths resulting from lawful acts of war.
