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.
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