Richard Scorer considers the lessons & consequences of Smith
The issue of whether British soldiers serving overseas should have the benefit of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) was considered by the Supreme Court in a judgment delivered on 30 June 2010 (R (on the application of Smith) v Secretary of State for Defence [2010] UKSC 29, [2010] All ER (D) 261 (Jun)). The issue has provoked much media debate, including some ill informed comment in the tabloid press.
The case before the Supreme Court arose from the death in Iraq in 2003 of Private Jason Smith. Private Smith joined the Territorial Army in 1992, at age 21, and was mobilised for service in Iraq in June 2003. On 26 June 2003, after an acclimatisation spell in Kuwait, he arrived at Camp Abu Naji, his base in Iraq. From there he was moved to an old athletics stadium some 12 kilometres away, where a number of British soldiers were billeted.
Temperatures in Iraq in summer regularly exceed 55 degrees centigrade and on 9 August 2003 Private Smith reported sick, saying he could
