Part II Commentaries to Typical Sofa Rules, 8 Members of Visiting Forces

This chapter provides a proposed scope of application of the NATO SOFA and compares this to other agreements. In the NATO SOFA, the definition of a ‘force’ covers both collective military units and individuals in active service and assigned to the military line of command. Nationality is not a condition to be met as a ‘member of a force’. The member of the armed service of one party must be present on the territory of another contracting party to fall within the definition, and as such, Receiving State personnel are excluded from the definition of a ‘force’. The force must furthermore be operating in the North Atlantic Treaty area. Finally, the member of the force must be present on the territory of another party in connection with official duties. This condition, particularly, has generated discussion in NATO SOFA practice.

Assessing and addressing domestic abuse by Ex-armed service personnel

In the context that separate peer-led services are increasingly being developed to meet the needs of Ex-armed service personnel (Ex-asp) in the criminal justice system, we explore whether such services should also be developed to address any tendencies towards domestic abuse. Based on interviews with 12 imprisoned Ex-asp and 10 service-affiliated informants working with them, we found domestic abuse is not always recognized as a potential problem for Ex-asp. Nonetheless, respondents suggested that interventions to address the potential for domestic abuse by some Ex-asp would be useful and legitimate if they are provided by those with service affiliations. Considering our findings, however, we strike a note of caution about separate and peer-led approaches becoming the default option for working with Ex-asp in the criminal justice system. We suggest the gendered nature of military culture may be associated with concerns about the implications of re-engaging Ex-asp with their military identities. Moreover, being steeped in military culture, we suggest that without training some service-affiliated staff may be unsighted on important aspects of the role gender expectancies play in domestic abuse and poorly placed to respond appropriately to this type of offending.