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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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