HL Deb 23 November 1992 vol 540 cc791-2

2.45 p.m.

Baroness Hooper asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they intend to support the proposal to create a single European Court of Human Rights as a full-time body, in view of the increase in the number of applications submitted to the Commission and the Court.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey)

My Lords, we have made and will continue to make a constructive contribution to discussion within the Council of Europe on reform of the control machinery of the European Convention on Human Rights. We remain committed to finding a long-term solution to the question of reform and will aim to take forward the discussions on this issue during our presidency of the Council of Europe.

Baroness Hooper

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for indicating that the Government remain open-minded on this issue. Does she agree that, as regards the countries of eastern and central Europe which have recently joined the Council of Europe, and in particular applicant countries such as Slovenia and Bosnia, it is important that their new-found democracies and rule of law should be supported by the mechanism of the independent European Court of Human Rights? Does she further agree that it is of the utmost importance that the Court should be as efficient and cost-effective as possible?

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

My Lords, my noble friend is right. As regards human rights, our main concern has always been to ensure that the machinery of the European Convention on Human Rights operates more speedily and effectively. In particular, we must ensure that any agreed reforms to that convention genuinely meet those criteria. It is critical that new members are able to align their legislation with the convention. That is why we are taking so much trouble to try to get these reforms right.

Lord Judd

My Lords, does the Minister accept that in this country there is a great deal of anxiety about the log jams and delays involved in the present system? For how long can we remain the odd nation out? Is the Minister aware that nations such as Bulgaria and Hungary are incorporating the convention into their law? Is it not time that we took a fresh look at the matter?

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

My Lords, the Question is not about incorporation into our law; it is about the future of the Court and the Commission of Human Rights. It is about whether they should be formed into a single body—"the merger process", as it known—or whether we should have a two-tier system such as that proposed by the Dutch and Swedish Governments. One of the ways in which we hope that it will be made more efficient is for the Commission to give binding judgments in certain cases and also for the right to refer cases to the court to remain with the member nations; that is, cases which are more complicated or which obviously set new precedents. We need to ensure that the whole system is more efficient and that is what we are trying to solve.