Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Status of Forces Agreement between the UK and Bahrain has been amended as a result of the UK naval base in Bahrain.

It has. The Arrangement which the UK signed with Bahrain concerning naval basing also changed the jurisdiction arrangements that apply to UK military personnel who are serving in Bahrain. From 1994 until 2014, the UK had exclusive jurisdiction over military personnel in Bahrain. This changed when the basing Arrangement was signed. As a result there is now concurrent jurisdiction, which recognises that both UK and Bahraini law applies to UK military personnel serving in Bahrain. The Arrangement contains a mechanism to allow the UK and Bahraini authorities to determine which set of national laws should be applied to a member of the UK Armed Forces if it is alleged that they have committed a crime.