§ 48. Mr. Ridleyasked the Attorney-General if he intends to appear personally before the European Court of Human Rights sitting at Strasbourg in the defence of Her Majesty's Government against the charges brought by Messrs. James, Webster and Young that United King-don closed shop legislation violates the right of freedom of association.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Attorney-General (1) at what date Her Majesty's Government lodged their final defence to the closed shop test case before the European Court of Human Rights; how long after the expiry of the final deadline this was; and what reasons were given for the delay;
(2) how many extensions to the deadline for the submission of Her Majesty's Government's defence to the closed shop test case before the European Court of Human Rights were applied for and granted; and what were the reasons for the applications.
The Attorney-GeneralNo such cases are before the European Court of Human Rights. I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the applications made to the Commission under Article 25 of the European Human Rights Convention by Messrs. Young and James and Mr. Webster respectively. More than one United Kingdom memorial has been filed with the Commission on the merits of these cases. The last memorial relating to Mr. Webster's applications was filed on 2 March 1979. The final arrangement, after a number of applications for extension of time, was that this memorial508W should be lodged in time for the session of the Commission beginning on 26 February. The memorial on the merits of the Young and James case was submitted on 4 February 1978 after two applications for extension of time. Delays in the filing of submissions on the merits of these applications have been due to the difficulty of co-ordinating submissions and procedures in a case which had already been admitted for hearing with those in a later case which had not been so admitted, having regard to the complexity of the issues involved.