§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the guidance given to civil servants and members of the Armed Forces governing the manner in which military action against Iraq is taken, in accordance with the principles of international humanitarian law. [HL2247]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)The Civil Service Code sets out the constitutional framework within which all civil servants work and the values they are expected to uphold. Under the terms of the code all civil servants are hound to comply with the law, including international law, treaty law and treaty obligations.
The rules of engagement under which British Armed Forces in Iraq operate fully reflect our obligations under the law of armed conflict to ensure minimum use of force to achieve military objectives. It has been the practice of successive governments not to disclose rules of engagement, since to do so would provide an enemy with detailed information about how our forces operate and jeopardise any operations in which they were engaged. I am therefore withholding the information in accordance with Exemption 1 (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.