International Law

(asked on 9th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 8 September 2020, Official Report, column 509, on how many occasions since May 2010 the Government has brought forward legislative proposals giving powers to Ministers to breach international law.


Answered by
Suella Braverman Portrait
Suella Braverman
This question was answered on 14th September 2020

Parliament is sovereign as a matter of domestic law and can pass legislation, even if such legislation is in breach of the UK’s treaty obligations. From time to time tensions arise between our international obligations and domestic legislation. In 2012, The House of Lords Reform Bill 2012-13 was brought forward with the statement that the Deputy Prime Minister at the time was ‘unable to make a statement of compatibility under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998’ which reflects the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (this Bill was later withdrawn for other reasons). Whilst pre-dating 2010, a further example from 2002 was when the then Government introduced the Communications Bill with a section 19(1)(b) certificate under the Human Rights Act 1998 (ie that whilst the Minster is unable to make a statement of compatibility the government nevertheless wishes to proceed with the Bill) because it was perceived that clause 309 of that Bill could be considered to violate our international obligations under article 10 of the ECHR. The current legislative proposal, if enacted, would deliver the wider objectives of the Protocol, which is to protect peace in NI and the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

Reticulating Splines