BGIPU logo Inter-Parliamentary Union BRITISH GROUP  
 
   
     
  Print this page print

Delegation Reports

Annual Parliamentary Hearing at the UN: Reinforcing the Rule of Law in International Relations: The Key Role of Parliaments, New York, 20 to 21 November 2007

Report by the Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman MP

Delegation

Rt Hon Sir Gerald Kaufman MP

Richard Shepherd MP

Seventy parliaments and international agencies were represented at the meeting. The Hon Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the IPU, Srgjian Kerim, President of the UN General Assembly, and Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General, addressed the hearing which took place over four intensive sessions.
Subjects covered at the hearing were: Priorities, challenges and objectives of the new United Nations Management Team; Observing the rule of law in the implementation of key international commitments in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation; the legacy of the international tribunals and the future course of the international criminal justice regime; Towards a global approach to counter-terrorism based on the rule of law.
Authoritative expositions of facts and opinions were provided both from the platform and the floor, with information such as that 80 per cent of inhabitants of the Gaza strip survive on UN support, and that parliamentarians in Lebanon are practically under house-arrest.
The hearing was valuable not only for the views expressed and the information provided but for the very differing interpretations by floor delegates of the role of parliaments, ranging from independent opinions freely expressed to statements of policy on behalf of governments. The hearing was well worthwhile for gathering so many parliamentarians together and for the opportunity for individual to exchange views on an informal basis.

Latest News
Legislative aspects of HIV relating to key affected populations,
20 July 2010>>
Visit of a Parliamentary delegation from Albania, 16 to 17 March 2010>>
Parliamentary Delegation from Afghanistan, 25 to 29 January 2010>>
Outward Delegation to Senegal, 27 September to 3 October 2009>>
Fourth Conference for Members of Parliamentary Committees on the Status of Women, Geneva, 28 to 29 September 2009>>
Report on election observing in Mongolia, 18 to 21 September 2009>>
Parliamentary Delegation from The Republic of The Philippines, 6 to 10 July 2009>>
Outward Delegation to Nepal, 15 to 20 February 2009 >>
Parliamentary Conference on the Global Economic Crisis, Geneva, 7 to 8 May 2009>>
Parliamentary meeting on the occasion of the 53rd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, New York, March 2009>>
Outward Delegation to Serbia, 18 to 20 February 2009>>
Outward Delegation to Montenegro, 15 to 18 February 2009>>
Parliamentary delegation from the United Arab Emirates, 26 to 28 January 2009>>
Delegation to Tirana, Albania 14 to 15 December 2008>>
Parliamentary Delegation from Uruguay, 17 to 21 November 2008>>
Parliamentary Delegation to Kyrgyzstan
14 to 19 Sept 2008>>
2008 Session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, Geneva
11 to 12 Sept 2008>>
Parliamentary Delegation to Ukraine
7 to 12 Sept 2008>>
IPU-UN forum on The role of national and local stakeholders in contributing to aid quality and effectiveness, Rome
12 to 13 June 2008>>