§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each of the international and European codes, conventions and treaties to defend human rights to which Her Majesty's Government are a party, indicating in each case whether Her Majesty's Government have signed or ratified it, and the derogations involved; and in which court the provisions are justiciable.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe main international human rights instruments to which the United Kingdom is party—that is, which it has ratified—are as follows
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.Covenant against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination.Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.Convention on the Rights of the Child.The main European human rights treaties to which the United Kingdom are party are:
European Convention on Human Rights (including Protocol 1).European Social Charter.247WEuropean Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.The United Kingdom has signed but not ratified protocol No. 4 to the European convention on human rights.
The provisions of these treaties as such are not justiciable in courts in the United Kingdom. The provisions of the European convention on human rights are justiciable in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The United Kingdom is at present derogating from the international covenant on civil and political rights and the European convention on human rights with respect to certain periods of detention under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989.
CSCE
As a participating state in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe the United Kingdom subscribes to the political undertakings of the CSCE, including those relating to human rights.