§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the involvement of officers of his Department in dealing with the Gillow case before the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg; what is the estimated cost to date; and what is the current position in the consideration of the case.
§ Mr. MellorAs the state party to the European Convention on Human Rights as regards the bailiwick of Guernsey, the United Kingdom handles petitions to the European Commission alleging breaches of the convention by the Guernsey authorities. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for the conduct of such cases at Strasbourg and officials of the Department act in a liaison capacity between the Guernsey authorities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It is not practicable to estimate the cost of this involvement.
Following an oral hearing in December 1982, the Commission declared this case admissible. This was not a finding that there had been a breach of the convention, only a decision that the case was not to be rejected at a preliminary stage and required further consideration. I regret that the rules of confidentiality governing cases under the convention prevent me from saying any more at this stage about this case.