§ Mr. Taverneasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will give instructions for the revision of the practice of the Foreign Compensation Commission of refusing claimants any explanation of how their claims have been assessed; and whether he will give reasons for the present practice.
§ Mr. P. ThomasNo. The Foreign Compensation Commission is a quasi-judicial body constituted under the Foreign Compensation Act, 1950. The Act does not give the Secretary of State power to issue instructions to the Commission as to the manner in which they should exercise their judicial functions. The Commission regulate their own procedure and adopt the practices that they believe to be in the best interests of claimants generally, having regard to the need to distribute the Compensation96W Funds administered by them as expeditiously as possible, and to the importance of keeping down the costs of distribution which under the Act are recoverable from the Funds.