"Much of the litigation we face comes from the extension of the European Convention on Human Rights to the battlefield. This is damaging our troops, undermining military operations, and costing taxpayers’ millions that should be invested in defense itself. So I can announce today that in future conflicts we intend to derogate from that European convention," Fallon said at the Conservative Party conference.
He pointed out that the decision did not mean that the UK armed forces would not respect human rights during military conflicts.
"Now I want to be clear this isn’t about putting our armed forces above the law… They have to comply with the criminal law of this country and of course with the Geneva conventions. Serious claims must be investigated — but spurious claims will be stopped and our armed forces will now be able to do the job fighting the enemy, not the lawyers," Fallon said.
