| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich 12:47 - May 23 with 2616 views | LOTR |
Had an interesting debate at work today regarding the use of lethal force by members of the armed forces on the mainland and not in a theatre of war.
I argued that soldiers in the base would have been justified in using appropriate force(lethal if necessary) in order to protect a fellow soldier or a member of the public from a life threatening situation, but another ex pat, reliably informed me that this would contravene the armies rules of engagement. I think he is wrong that that the use of appropriate force would be justified and thus exempt the soldiers from prosecution.
Are there any lawyers or criminal law experts on here? Do soldiers and other members of the armed forces have the legal authority to kill a British citizen in Britain or is it meant to be left to the armed response units to deal with any potential threat?
LOTR- always asking the more challenging questions...in the hope that someone else will know and thus enable him to win this argument at work tomorrow. | | | |  |
| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich on 13:10 - May 23 with 2558 views | HollowayRanger |
stuff the rules
those two should have been put down | |
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| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich on 13:21 - May 23 with 2511 views | QPR_John |
I may be wrong but I believe the army have no authority in this country to act without a direct request from the Prime Minister/Parliament unlike the police. | | | |
| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich on 13:52 - May 23 with 2451 views | LOTR |
Sorry Holloway, was hoping for something more thought provoking than a front page headline from the Sun. | | | |
| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich on 14:07 - May 23 with 2417 views | THEBUSH |
Today, the barracks had armed guards posted outside the gates, I'm sure if they were attacked, they would use them, why not ? | | | |
| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich on 14:54 - May 23 with 2360 views | LOTR |
They had police armed guards or military police armed guards? Two very different scenarios. Would soldiers have been legally protected under the law of this country to step in and shoot(as the police did) the two suspects?
After a bit more reading I'm not entirely sure whether they would be able to! | | | |
| Rules Of Engagement Woolwich on 15:03 - May 23 with 2344 views | DylanP |
I think the answer is that all residents of the UK have authority to use lethal force in order to protect their life or the life of someone close to them from unlawful attack. Therefore, members of the armed services using lethal force under those circumstances, would have been using lethal force under the legal authority granted them by virtue of residency in this country, and not under the legal authority granted them by virtue of being in the armed services.
Therefore the answer is yes. | |
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