Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Bill [H.L.] (Hansard, 14 June 1995)

HL Deb 14 June 1995 vol 564 cc1861-86 1861

§ 7.36 p.m.

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare
My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resolve itself into Committee on this Bill.

§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare.)

§ On Question, Motion agreed to.

§ House in Committee accordingly.

§ [The VISCOUNT ALLENBY OF MEGIDDO in the Chair.]

§ Clause 1 [Amendment to Section 1 of Act of 1957]:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendment No. 1:

§ Page 1, line 5, leave out subsections (1) and (2) and insert: ("( ) Section 1 (grave breaches of scheduled conventions) of the Geneva Conventions Act 1957 (in this Act referred to as "the 1957 Act") shall be amended as follows. ( ) In subsection (1) for the words from "any such" to "aforesaid" (in the second place it appears) there shall be substituted the words "a grave breach of any of the scheduled conventions or the first protocol shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction on indictment—

(a) in the case of a grave breach involving the wilful killing of a person protected by the convention or protocol in question, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life;
(b) in the case of any other grave breach".

( ) After subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection— (1A) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section—

(a) a grave breach of a scheduled convention is anything referred to as a grave breach of the convention in the relevant Article, that is to say—

(i) in the case of the convention set out in the First Schedule to this Act, Article 50;
(ii) in the case of the convention set out in the Second Schedule to this Act, Article 51;
(iii) in the case of the convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act, Article 130;
(iv) in the case of the convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act, Article 147; and

(b) a grave breach of the first protocol is anything referred to as a grave breach of the protocol in paragraph 4 of Article 11, or paragraph 2, 3 or 4 of Article 85, of the protocol." ").

§ The noble Lord said: Since the Second Reading was moved, British Red Cross representatives have met with officials from relevant government departments. Their meetings have been constructive and amendments to the Bill have been agreed. Although there are a large number of amendments to the original Bill, they are largely technical in nature. The result is the limitation of legislation to what is essential to enable the United Kingdom to ratify the two 1977 protocols additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions; and to bring up to date certain provisions of the Geneva Conventions Act 1957.

§ The Committee will remember that the enactment of the necessary changes to British law to enable ratification of the protocols was always the primary object of the Bill, and the amendments to be put before the Committee do not detract from that central purpose.

§ Moreover, many of the intended effects of the original Bill are improved by the amendments which the British Red Cross is happy to support. I am particularly grateful to the Home Office and the Minister and other officials who have worked long and hard to achieve that objective, together with my Red Cross colleagues. With the permission of the Committee, I shall name three of them who have worked so hard in the 150th year of the Red Cross to see that the Bill reaches the statute book before they go to the major convention in Geneva in December. I thank them personally. They are Sir Alan Munro, Mr. David Wyatt and Mr. Michael Meyer.

§ The Bill, as now amended, is fully endorsed by the British Red Cross, as the prime mover in bringing this Bill before your Lordships' House, and is also fully endorsed by Her Majesty's Government. It represents a careful and thorough package which the Committee is asked to accept as such. It is of course for the Committee to decide whether to approve the Bill as now amended. But I have to say that if changes are sought, it could lead to the whole exercise unravelling, and would then leave insufficient time for the protocols to be ratified before the crucial conference of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent in December, when it will be in the interest of this country to be able to announce at that time that the ratification process is complete.

§ I also wish to explain to your Lordships that when the Bill was originally published there were a number of printing errors—I repeat, printing errors—as helpfully drawn to our attention by the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh, in the Second Reading debate. Most of these printing errors pertain to the schedules to the Bill, which are simply reprints of existing treaty texts, and not to the Bill itself. However, I am able to assure your Lordships that the Public Bill Office will reprint the Bill before the Report stage.

§ With the permission of the Committee, I shall now move to Amendment No. 1 and also speak to Amendments Nos. 2 and 3. Although these amendments may appear substantial and perhaps a little cumbersome, they do not significantly alter the substance of the original provisions of the Bill, at least in terms of the effect they will have in amending the Geneva 1863 Conventions Act 1957. Perhaps the most substantial difference between the original draft of the Bill and the amended version of Clause 1 is that the proposed new subsection (1B) has been dropped. This provided that reprisal could not be relied upon as defence. But the United Kingdom wishes to retain the right to take reprisals in certain closely defined circumstances. The Government intend to enter a reservation to this effect on ratification of the protocols. The proposed new Section 1(1B) would have been incompatible with this and has not therefore been retained in the amended Clause 1. The other slight changes that have been made will, as I have said, simply update and tidy the provisions. I beg to move.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
I rise not to consider the amendments in detail. I understand and appreciate that they have been discussed between the Red Cross and the Home Office and I am satisfied with that. I shall not pursue the matters in detail. However, I want to reaffirm what I said at Second Reading and what the noble Lord, Lord Archer, has repeated today. The most urgent thing is to get the Bill through. At Second Reading I undertook to consult my honourable friends in another place about that. I am happy to confirm that, having made those consultations, both the Labour Front Bench and the Labour Whips Office will do everything in their power to see that the Bill progresses in another place without delay. I am advised that, provided the Bill is presented there not later than 14th July—I would hope that it could he earlier than that—there is no reason why it should not proceed through all its stages in a single day. Incidentally, I understand that my honourable friend Mark Fisher knows nothing of the Bill. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Archer, has made arrangements for a Member of the House of Commons to present it there.

§ Baroness Seear
We on these Benches are also very glad to support these amendments.

§ Baroness Blatch
The Government are committed to ratification of the additional protocols to the Geneva Convention and have always been in total accord with the principal aims of the Bill. I simply want to put on record from the Government Benches that I am enormously grateful for the collaborative work between Red Cross officials and my own officials in the Home Office and also to the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh, the noble Baroness, Lady Seear, and all those who spoke at Second Reading who arc coming together—I shall not say uniquely, but it is heartening to think that all parties are coming together, which I hope will be repeated in another place—to give the Bill the smoothest possible passage. If I may beg the indulgence of the Committee, I would suggest that we do not address the details of the amendments but give them the swiftest possible passage through the Committee so that the Bill can make its way to another place for an equally smooth passage.

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare
I thank the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh, and the noble Baroness, Lady Seear, for their support. Perhaps I may join the Minister and say that this is perhaps a comment on the 1864 amazing work that the Red Cross does. I know it will appreciate the support of the House and, it is to be hoped, the support of another place as well.

§ On Question, amendment agreed to.

§ 7.45 p.m.

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendments Nos. 2 and 3:

§ Page 2, line 15, at end insert: ("( ) In subsection (3)—

(a) for the words from the beginning to "jurisdiction" there shall be substituted the words "In Scotland, the sheriff shall have no jurisdiction"; and
(b) for the words "Attorney General" there shall be substituted the words "Director of Public Prosecutions".").

§ Page 2, line 16, leave out subsection (3) and insert: ("( ) In subsection (4), for the words from the beginning to "applies)" there shall be substituted the words "If in proceedings for an offence under this section any question arises under Article 2 of any of the scheduled conventions or Article I or 3 of the first protocol (which relate to the circumstances in which the conventions and protocol apply),".").

§ On Question, amendments agreed to.

§ Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

§ Clause 2 [Certain contraventions to be treated as grave breaches]:

§ On Question, Whether Clause 2 shall stand part of the Bill?

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare
My intention in proposing the criminalisation of certain breaches of the first protocol was to ensure that those contraventions not deemed "grave breaches" but nevertheless of sufficient seriousness should be treated like grave breaches. However, it has been brought to my attention that the sort of misconduct which would constitute a breach of the first protocol is in many cases already covered by the existing criminal law and by the Armed Forces disciplinary codes.
The United Kingdom views any breach of the Geneva Conventions with the utmost seriousness and I am confident that any contravention of the additional protocols will be properly dealt with by the due process of law. Moreover, elevation of certain contraventions of the first protocol to "grave breach" status would, in some circumstances, risk imposing severe penalties on relatively minor offences. This clause is not required to enable ratification of the protocols and I therefore oppose the Question that it should stand part of the Bill.

§ Clause 2 negatived.

§ Clause 3 [Amendment to Section 6 of Act of 1957]:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendment No. 4:

§ Page 2, line 44, leave out from ("subsection (1)") to the end of line 18 on page 3 and insert:

("(a) for the words "Army Council" there shall be substituted the words "Secretary of State"; and
(b) after paragraph (c) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs—

(d) the sign of an equilateral blue triangle on, and completely surrounded by, an orange ground, being the international distinctive sign of civil defence: 1865 (e) any of the distinctive signals specified in Chapter III of Annex I to the first protocol, being the signals of identification for medical units and transports.

§ ( ) In subsection (2)—

(a) for the words "Board of Trade" there shall be substituted the words "Secretary of State"; and
(b) after paragraph (b) there shall be inserted the following paragraphs—
"(c) any design so nearly resembling the sign specified in subsection (1) (d) of this section as to be capable of being mistaken for that sign;
(d) any signal so nearly resembling any of the signals referred to in subsection (1) (e) of this section as to be capable of being mistaken for one of those signals." ").

§ The noble Lord said: In moving this amendment, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 5 to 12. The amendments to Clause 3, like those to Clause 1, do not significantly alter the substance of the original provisions of the Bill. To keep the formulation of the Bill in line with current legislative practice, Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 confer protecting authority for use of the Red Cross and other emblems and their imitations on the Secretary of State. Arrangements resulting from the legislation will of course clarify where responsibility for the various emblems will lie. Although the provision of any regulation-making power for the Secretary of State in connection with the use of emblems and designations is removed from this clause, subsequent amendment to Clause 4 makes the necessary provision.

§ As in the original Clause 3 of the Bill, provision has also been made, through Amendment No. 4, for the addition to the list of protected emblems and designations of the international civil defence sign and the distinctive signals of identification for medical units and transports. Amendments Nos. 4 and 6 also ensure that all provisions in the 1957 Act which relate to the use of protected emblems and designations, including the forfeiture provision in relation to misuse of such emblems and designations on goods and other articles, are also extended to these signs and signals. However, in line with the current provisions of the 1957 Act, a defence is provided for use of trade marks, other designs and wording resembling these signs and signals, if they have been in use before the passage of this Bill. The opportunity has also been taken to update other subsections of Section 6. The remaining amendments to this clause are merely minor drafting changes. I beg to move.

§ On Question, amendment agreed to.

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendments Nos. 5 to 12:

§ Page 3, line 19, leave out subsection (4).

§ Page 3, leave out line 31 and insert: ("(b) after the word "goods" there shall be inserted the words "or other article"; and").

§ Page 3, leave out lines 32 to 34 and insert: ("(c) after the word "designation," there shall be inserted the words "sign, signal,".").

§ Page 3, line 34, at end insert: ("( ) After subsection (4) there shall be inserted the following subsection— 1866 (4A) Subsection (4) of this section shall apply in relation to a design reproducing or resembling the sign specified in paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of this section as it applies to designs reproducing or resembling an emblem specified in paragraph (b) or (c) of that subsection. For the purposes of this subsection references in subsection (4) of this section to the passing of this Act shall be construed as references to the passing of the Geneva Conventions (Amendment) Act 1995." ").

§ Page 3, line 36, after ("for") insert ("the words").

§ Page 3, line 36, leave out ("inserted") and insert ("substituted").

§ Page 3, leave out line 38 and insert: ("(b) for the words from "any British" to the end there shall be substituted the words "—

(a) any British ship (within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping (Registration, etc.) Act 1993);
(b) any British-controlled aircraft or hovercraft (within the meaning of section 92 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 or, as the case may be, that section as applied to hovercraft by virtue of provision made under the Hovercraft Act 1968)." ").

§ Page 3, leave out lines 40 to 43 and insert: ("(a) after the word "proceedings" there shall be inserted the words "for an offence"; and (b) for the words "Attorney General" there shall be substituted the words "Director of Public Prosecutions".").

§ On Question, amendments agreed to.

§ Clause 3, as amended, agreed to.

§ Clause 4 [Regulations]:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendment No. 13:

§ Page 4, leave out lines 3 to 48 and insert:

§ ("Regulations.

§ 6A.—(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations—

(a) granting the authority of the Secretary of State for the purposes of subsection (1) or (2) of section 6 of this Act to persons of any description prescribed in the regulations for the use of any emblem, designation, sign, signal, design or wording referred to in those subsections;
(b) making such provision as he may think appropriate for regulating the use for the purposes of any of the scheduled conventions, the first protocol or the second protocol of any emblem, designation, sign or signal;

and any authority granted by regulations under paragraph (a) of this subsection may be subject to such limitations and conditions as may be prescribed in the regulations.

§ (2) Paragraph (a) of the foregoing subsection is without prejudice to the Secretary of State's power to give his authority under subsection (1) or (2) of section 6 of this Act otherwise than by regulations under this section.

§ (3) The power to make regulations under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.").

§ The noble Lord said: The aim of Clause 4 of the Bill is to provide for regulations to govern the establishment of bodies for assigning, recognising and authorising personnel, medical units, voluntary aid societies, civil defence organisations, and medical transports for the purposes of Protocol I. However, I understand that most of these matters can be provided for administratively. This amendment therefore removes the list of such matters in the current Clause 4 and simply grants to the Secretary of State the power to make any regulations 1867 necessary to control use of the emblems. Given that any such regulations will not be in any way contentious, there appears little need for affirmative resolution and provision is therefore made for negative resolution. I beg to move.

§ On Question, amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 4, as amended, agreed to.

§ Clause 5 [Amendment to Section 7 of Act of 1957]:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendments Nos. 14 to 19.

§ Page 5, line 1, at end insert: ("( ) In the definition of "protected internee", after the word "Act" there shall be inserted the words "(including a person so protected by virtue of the first protocol)".").

§ Page 5, line 3, leave out from ("words") to the end of line 5 and insert (""(including a person protected as a prisoner of war under the first protocol) or a person entitled under the first protocol to the same protection as a prisoner of war;".").

§ Page 5, line 5. at end insert: ("( ) After the definition of "protected prisoner of war" there shall be inserted the following definition— "the first protocol" means the Protocol, additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) done on 10 June 1977, the text of which is set out in the Fifth Schedule to this Act;" ").

§ Page 5, line 6, leave out from ("power"") to end of line 9 and insert ("for the words from "or, as" to the end there shall be substituted the words "Schedule to this Act, the convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act or the first protocol;".").

§ Page 5, line 11, leave out from ("the") to the end of line 13 and insert ("following definition— "the second protocol" means the Protocol, additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 11) done on 10 June 1977, the text of which is set out in the Sixth Schedule to this Act." ").

§ Page 5, leave out lines 15 to 21 and insert ("subsections— (3) If the ratification by the United Kingdom of the first protocol or the second protocol is subject to any reservation or accompanied by a declaration—

(a) Her Majesty may by Order in Council certify that such a reservation or declaration has been made and the terms in which it was made; and
(b) the protocol shall for the purposes of this Act be construed subject to and in accordance with any reservation or declaration so certified.

§ (4) If such a reservation or declaration is withdrawn (in whole or part), an Order in Council under the foregoing subsection may certify that fact and revoke or amend any Order in Council containing the terms of that reservation or declaration.

§ (5) If the first protocol is further revised under Article 98 of the protocol, Her Majesty may by Order in Council amend the Fifth Schedule to this Act so as to ensure that the Schedule sets out the text of the protocol as in force in relation to the United Kingdom."").

§ The noble Lord said: Section 7 of the 1957 Act, which Clause 5 seeks to amend, contains various definitions of terms used in the Geneva Conventions legislation. As with previous clauses, it has been necessary to make some purely drafting changes to Clause 5, and these will be achieved by Amendments Nos. 14 to 18. Once again, this does not alter the effect of this clause, but is simply intended to tidy it up. Put simply, Amendment No. 19 will 1868 enable legal effect to be given to any reservations and declarations made on ratification, and will enable the legislation to keep up-to-date with future changes, either to reservations or declarations that have been made under subsection (3), or to Protocol I itself. Amendment No. 20 is, thankfully, more straightforward. The two repeals that will be made by subsections (a) and (b) take account of changes that have occurred since 1957 and will bring the legislation up-to-date. I beg to move.

§ On Question, amendments agreed to.

§ Clause 5, as amended, agreed to.

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendment No. 20:

§ After Clause 5, insert the following new clause:

§ Repeals

§ (" .The following provisions of the 1957 Act are hereby repealed, namely—

(a) in section 6—

(i) in subsection (1), the words "emblems or designations"; and
(ii) subsection (9) (which is spent); and

(b) in section 8(2), paragraphs (d) and (e) (which are obsolete).").

§ On Question, amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 6 [Additional schedules to Act of 1957]:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendment No. 21:

§ Page 5, line 25, leave out subsection (2).

§ The noble Lord said: Subsection 2 of Clause 6, which this amendment will remove, is unnecessary because the figures to which it refers will be printed on the face of the Bill. I beg to move.

§ On Question, amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 6, as amended, agreed to.

§ Clause 7 [Short title]:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendment No. 22:

§ Page 5, line 30, at end insert: ("(2) This Act shall come into force on such day as Her Majesty may by Order in Council appoint. (3) This Act extends to Northern Ireland. (4) Section 8(2) of the 1957 Act (power to extend provisions to the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and colonies) shall apply in relation to the provisions of this Act as if they were contained in that Act.").

§ The noble Lord said: Amendment No. 22 inserts three new subsections in Clause 7, the purpose of which is to provide for the commencement and extent of the Bill once it has been enacted. The amendment provides for commencement on such day as will be appointed by Order in Council. It also enables the provisions of the Bill to be extended to the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and colonies. I beg to move.

§ On Question, amendment agreed to.

§ Clause 7, as amended, agreed to.

§ Schedule:

§ Lord Archer of Weston-Super-Mare moved Amendments Nos. 23 to 25:

§ Page 27, line 45. at end insert:

1869

§ ("Note: the reference in this paragraph to Article 16 of Annex I is to be read as a reference to Article 17 of that Annex, following the entry into force on 1st March 1994 of amendments to Annex I made under Article 98.").

§ Page 47, leave out from beginning of line 6 to end of line 25 on page 51 and insert:

c1869