§ The Lord BOYD-CARPENTERasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list the countries other than the United Kingdom in which trade unions enjoy immunities or privileges in respect of the bringing against them of proceedings in courts of law.
The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EMPLOYMENT (The Earl of Gowrie)I regret that it is not possible to summarise the information available in the form of a list because the wide differences between the legal systems in different countries make comparisons difficult. Most Western countries provide trade unions with constitutional rights or some other form of legal protection which enable them to take effective industrial action. However, in general terms, trade unions in Great Britain enjoy greater immunity from civil actions in the courts than do trade unions in most other Western countries.