HC Deb 09 December 2002 vol 396 c20W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the request from the United Nations that each member state should adopt exclusionary measures to protect its armed forces against the development of a culture of impunity; and what his policy is if criminal convictions result in individual service personnel being excluded from membership of HM armed forces. [85968]

Mr. Ingram

There is no culture of impunity in the United Kingdom armed forces, whose members are subject to the ordinary law of the land. Criminal convictions are judged according to their seriousness: minor offences would not necessarily exclude a person from membership of the armed forces; more serious offences, including those leading to a sentence of imprisonment, may be expected to result in dismissal.