HL Deb 14 February 1994 vol 552 cc9-10WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, during the current negotiations to reform the European Court of Human Rights, they will withdraw their objection to create an automatic right of individual access to that court.

Earl Ferrers

At present, under the European Convention on Human Rights, whether individuals should have the right to petition the European Commission on Human Rights is a matter for each member state, and acceptance of the right may be on a renewable or indefinite basis.

Since 1966 the Government, in a succession of declarations, has recognised the competence of the Commission to receive such petitions from people who claim to be the victims of a violation of the convention in the United Kingdom.

We are currently considering the proposal that indefinite acceptance of the right of individual petition should be a requirement on member states, although we do not consider this to be integral to the reform of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights, the purpose of which is to enable the increasing number of cases to be dealt with more speedily.