Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his policy is on whether the use of cluster munitions is always a contravention of international humanitarian law.

Whether he use of cluster munitions is in contravention of international humanitarian law is a matter of law, not policy. The use of cluster munitions by States which are not State Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions is not in itself unlawful provided that they are not used in a contravention of international humanitarian law. The UK is a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. We continue to discourage the use of cluster munitions and to urge all non-State Parties to accede to the Convention without delay.