§ Mr. ColvinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the referral by the European Commission on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights of the three test cases brought by the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association against the British Government for redress for human radiation exposure [14228]
§ Mr. SoamesTwo cases have been referred to the European Court of Human Rights. In the case of McGinley and EEv. UK, the Government are disappointed that the European Commission of Human Rights concluded that there had been a violation of article 6(1) of the European convention on human rights. The Commission concluded that the applicants did not enjoy a right of effective access to the pensions appeal tribunal because of a lack of access to relevant records. The Government dispute this and will contest this case. In the other case, of LCB v. UK, which has been referred to the Court, the Government are pleased that the Commission found no violation of the convention. The Government recall that reports of an epidemiological study by the National Radiological Protection Board published in 1988 and 1993 concluded that participation in the nuclear weapon testing programmes has not had a detectable effect on the participants' expectation of life, or on their risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases.