Lyons Report: MoD to reconsider its response

Rt. Hon. Ben Wallace MP

The Lyons Report fall out continues to rumble on. Many of you will have attended the last Town Hall event when Brig. Paphiti (Rtd) set out some of the failings and contradictions in the report. Regular readers will also have seen that a group of three Service Personnel have begun the process of bringing judicial review proceedings against the MoD's rejection of the recommendation in the Lyons Report that cases of Rape and Serious Sexual Offences should be tried in the civilian Crown Court, not the Court Martial. Details can be found here.

In today's edition of the Daily Telegraph it emerged that the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP (late Scots Guards) has 'decided to give fresh consideration' to the issue. 

Emma Norton, who is representing the potential claimants, welcomed the decision saying "Now the MoD must make good on its promise to genuinely look afresh at this vitally important and incredibly sensitive issue...If the Secretary of State for Defence is serious about wanting to stamp out sexual assaults in the forces, then the simplest and quickest solution is to hand these cases over to the civilian courts.”

It is not clear, however, how the issues raised in the Telegraph article would be cured by transferring such cases to the Crown Court. 

This is definitely one to watch.