As a pioneering collaboration between specialist military solicitors from competing law firms celebrates a landmark anniversary, Hilary Meredith-Beckham says the legal profession should be proud of its efforts to improve access to justice.
The Royal British Legion Solicitors Group last year celebrated its 35th anniversary.
When we formed the group back in 1989 the Falklands War was fresh in the memory and UK forces were still in Northern Ireland.
In short, the world was a completely different place.
Our aim was to bring together a group of likeminded solicitors from law firms the breadth of the country, some ex-military but all with the same passion; to represent the armed forces and their families by providing the best legal advice and also to assist injured service personnel regain their quality-of-life post-injury.
At a time when access to justice is very much in the spotlight, the Royal British Legion Solicitors Group has provided invaluable support to the armed forces community all over the world, including incidents from Northern Ireland to Bosnia, Gulf War 1, Iraq and Afghanistan and also accidents on manoeuvres from jungle training in Belize to South China, Hong Kong, Kenya, Cyprus, Germany and Canada.
Military law has become significantly more complex over the years, leaving members of our armed forces, veterans and their families desperately in need of specialist legal advice, often on a pro bono basis.
In our early years, high profile litigation included the Chinook Mull of Kintyre crash 1994, the MoD Borneo Jungle expedition of the same year, and the Nimrod crash, which raised issues in military aviation, leading to the Nimrod Review by Charles Haddon-Cave QC. In more recent years, our members have acted in numerous complex claims, securing £10 million for 3 soldiers who suffered severe injuries after their Pinzgauer troop carrier hit improvised explosive devices and £7.2 million for a navy pilot who suffered life changing injuries.
The group’s work has been hugely effective in delivering greater safety measures for members of our armed forces taking part in training exercises. Examples include the inquest into the deaths of three soldiers during a ‘friendly fire’ incident in Afghanistan which resulted in changes to the army’s coordinates system to avoid similar tragedies and the Check Point Blue 25 inquest, held to investigate the deaths of five soldiers murdered by the Afghan police forces they had been training. Many inquests, such as Brecon Beacons, have resulted in coroners making recommendations for systemic changes. Other high-profile Inquests include Sgt Roberts, the first soldier to die in Iraq, Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, who died in an A10 “friendly fire” incident and the death of Mark Wright GC in a Kajaki minefield. Last year, we were also proud to represent Mrs Tracy Clark at the Article 2 Inquest into the tragic loss of her son Connor MacKenzie Clark on 12th June 2021.
The Royal British Legion Solicitors Group has also been instrumental in campaigning for changes in the law. Our members have provided evidence to a number of Parliamentary Inquiries covering Training Exercises, Combat Immunity, False Accusations of War Crimes, Lariam, Combat Compensation and Overseas Operations. We are also campaigning for much needed reforms to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.
While the Royal British Legion Solicitors Group is one of the longest running collaborations of its kind, similar groups, committees and clinics across the legal sector are also working tirelessly, and often away from the public eye, to deliver access to justice. It is work like this that shows the profession at its very best and I am proud to play my part.
Hilary Meredith-Beckham is Chair of the Royal British Legal Solicitors Group, Chair of Hilary Meredith Solicitors and Visiting Professor of Law and Veterans’ Affairs at the University of Chester.
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