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Human rights—Jurisdiction—Armed forces

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08 July 2010
Issue: 7425 / Categories: Case law , Law reports
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R (on the application of Smith) v Secretary of State for Defence and another [2010] UKSC 29, [2010] All ER (D) 261 (Jun)

Supreme Court, 30 June 2010, Lord Phillips (president), Lord Hope (deputy president), Lord Rodger, Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Brown, Lord Mance, Lord Collins and Lord Kerr

The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) does not apply to armed forces on foreign soil, and in any event there is no automatic right to an investigation into the death of a serviceman abroad.

Dinah Rose QC and Jessica Simor (instructed by Hodge Jones & Allen) for the claimant. James Eadie QC, Pushpinder Saini QC, Sarah Moore and David Barr (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the secretary of state. Michael Beloff QC, Raza Husain QC and Elizabeth Prochaska (instructed by Equality and Human Rights Commission) for the intervener.

The claimant’s son was a member of the territorial army. He was mobilised for service in Iraq in June 2003. After a short period of acclimatisation in Kuwait, he was sent to a base in Iraq.

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