HC Deb 18 March 1997 vol 292 cc498-9W
Mr. Austin Mitchell

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many international treaties the United Kingdom has signed in each of the last 15 years; how many were judged to require Acts of Parliament prior to notification; and how many times in that period a Bill to give effect to a treaty was not passed by Parliament. [19781]

Dr. Liam Fox

A total of 1,381 treaties have been signed by the United Kingdom since 1 January 1982:

  • 1982: 67
  • 1983: 78
  • 1984: 69
  • 1985: 65
  • 1986: 99
  • 1987: 105
  • 1988: 81
  • 1989: 110
  • 1990: 113
  • 1991: 92
  • 1992: 89
  • 1993: 122
  • 1994: 117
  • 1995: 84
  • 1996: 90.

The treaties cover a wide range of subjects and in a majority of cases Government Departments other than the FCO would have been responsible for determining what legislation, if any, was involved. This information is not recorded in treaty records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.