Recommendation 27

Ultimately, the Human Rights Act binds public authorities acting overseas only to a limited extent. It does so because the ECHR applies to all signatory states in respect of extra-territorial actions in certain, limited circumstances. Any attempt to amend the HRA to limit the extent to which public authorities acting overseas are bound by it could leave a category of victim under the Convention unable to obtain a remedy in the UK. This would put the UK in breach of its Article 13 ECHR obligation to provide those victims with an effective remedy. It would also leave the actions of UK public authorities, including the armed forces, open to challenge in the European Court of Human Rights rather than in the domestic courts. It may even expose our armed forces to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. There is no justification for making any such amendments to the HRA. (Paragraph 181) Administrative Law