Question
In the conjoined appeals of Smith, Ellis and Allbutt v Ministry of Defence [2013] UKSC 41, however, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the so-called 'Snatch Land Rover claims', similarly relating to the deaths of British servicemen operating in the field of combat in Iraq (in 2005 and 2006), did attract the protection of the Convention. Lord Hope believed that Strasbourg had partly redefined the concept of jurisdiction from the position taken in the Bankovic case to a recognition in Al-Skeini v UK that the key element was the degree of control and authority exercised by the relevant state over the individual. When considering the way in which the armed forces operate, he held that serviceman relinquish almost total control over their lives to the state. Accordingly, [...].
Answer
deaths of servicemen in the battlefield fall within the jurisdiction of the ECHR, art 1, regardless of whether they are operating in areas not under the control of the contracting state