The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
who thought
that “they should”. Mr Johnson also raised concerns about
creating a
precedent
for similar processes in other countries.
296.
An FCO
official who attended the meeting reported that the US appeared to
have
two
concerns:
•
the
material that they might be required to provide; and
•
the risk
that attendance at inquests by US Service Personnel might
expose
those
individuals to civil action in the UK.188
297.
In the
following weeks, DCA and FCO officials provided advice to the
US
Embassy on
the inquest process189
and the
extent of extra‑territorial jurisdiction under
298.
The FCO’s
advice on extra‑territorial jurisdiction was that:
•
English
criminal law was essentially territorial. There was no jurisdiction
in
English law
to prosecute a foreign national for homicide committed
overseas.
•
If there
was no extra‑territorial jurisdiction, there was no question of any
charges
being
issued against US Service Personnel.
•
There were
a group of “international” offences for which the UK had
taken
universal
jurisdiction, including most relevantly “grave breaches” of the
Geneva
Conventions
committed anywhere by persons of any nationality. It was,
however,
“hard to
imagine circumstances in which a ‘friendly fire’ incident would
amount
to a grave
breach” of the Convention.
299.
Ms Harman
met Mr Johnson again on 6 December.191
Ms Harman
suggested that
the meeting
should focus on the inquest into the death of L Cpl
Hull.
300.
Ms Harman
said that she had spoken to Mr Walker, the coroner responsible
for
that
inquest. He would like US witnesses to the incident to attend the
inquest; however,
he could
accept “as a minimum”:
•
an
unredacted copy of the US report on the incident: the US and UK
reports
differed,
and the US report had “large sections, even whole pages”
redacted;
and
•
a US
representative to speak to and explain the contents of the
report.
301.
An MOD
official added that “in a reverse situation the UK would consider
what
we could
offer in terms of best evidence”.
188
Email FCO
[junior official] to MOD [junior official], 20 November 2006, ‘Iraq
Coroners Inquests’.
189
Email DCA
[junior official] to US Embassy [junior official], 30 November
2006, ‘Questions from the
US Embassy
about Inquests’.
190
Email Adams
to US Embassy [junior official], 1 December 2006, ‘Questions from
US Embassy
about inquests’.
191
Minute
Burden to Harman, 11 December 2006, ‘Update Meeting between Harriet
Harman and
David Johnson
on US Attendance at UK Inquests into Deaths in Iraq’.
128