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<p>The Ministry of Defence is confident that the Service Justice System is capable
of dealing with all offences whatever their seriousness and wherever they occur. Therefore,
after further and full consideration of the recommendation made by HH Shaun Lyons
in the Service Justice System Review on the jurisdiction for murder, manslaughter
and rape offences in the UK, the Secretary of State concluded that the existing principle
of full concurrency between the service and civilian jurisdictions should be maintained.</p><p>
</p><p>Commencement regulations were made earlier this year, bringing section 7 of
the Armed Forces Act 2021 into force in full in England and Wales from 1 May 2022,
which allows the independent Service and civilian prosecutors to agree a protocol
on handling cases where there is concurrent jurisdiction. Decisions on which jurisdiction
should deal with criminal offending by Service personnel will continue to be made
by the relevant policing and prosecutorial authorities on a case-by-case basis. Where
the prosecutors are unable to resolve a disagreement over handling, the civilian prosecutors
will have the final say.</p><p> </p><p>The Director of Service Prosecutions and the
civilian prosecutors are currently working on a draft protocol, with consultation
to launch shortly after this has been agreed.</p>
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