§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are their reasons for accepting the right of petition for women under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women while refusing to accept the right of petition for members of ethnic minorities under the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. [HL4085]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs, (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)As I explained in my Answer to the noble Lord on 16 September (WA 201), the Government believe that the practical value to UK citizens of individual petition to the United Nations is unclear. They also have concerns about the levels of cost to public funds if individual petition were used extensively to explore the meaning of the provisions of a treaty. For these reasons they have decided to accede only to the right of individual petition under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to enable it to consider the merits of individual petition on a more empirical basis.