The Troubles Bill and the State’s Duty to Special Forces Veterans

By Grant Evatt, Solicitor & Managing Director, Alma Law

SAS soldiers are trained and authorised to use lethal force on behalf of the United Kingdom—under orders, within the chain of command, and acting in direct execution of Government policy. Their role during the Troubles was to neutralise threats to national security, often in covert operations where records were limited by operational necessity.

Labour’s reversal of the Legacy Act will reopen prosecutions and investigations into events from the 1970s and 1980s—cases already examined at the time under the standards and evidence available then. How does that square with the stated aim of putting the past behind us? In my opinion, reinvestigating historic military operations with modern political hindsight and incomplete evidence does not enhance justice; it simply places the burden of history onto individual veterans rather than the state that tasked them.

And according to reports, the consequences won’t stop at Northern Ireland. If this Government tears up historic legal protections, special forces personnel could also face renewed exposure to prosecution for overseas operations, long after evidence has disappeared and context cannot be reconstructed.

One comment I read today:

'Why would anyone even think about joining the military now? Put your life on the line for your country knowing that after you have retired your own government will prosecute you in court for doing your duty. Honestly I wouldn’t even consider it'

If the state directs individuals to carry out lethal operations in its name, it owes them legal finality when politics change. In my view, certainty in service must be matched by certainty afterwards. These men fulfilled their duty; the state must now fulfil its own.

Who Dares Wins

Westminster must show the same conviction— protect those who acted in its service and by setting clear limits on retrospective liability.

GE 19.11.25