asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Whether they will accept the right of individual petition under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [HL4650]

The Government remain to be convinced of the practical value to the United Kingdom citizen of rights of individual petition to the United Nations. The UN committees that consider petitions are not courts, and they cannot award damages, or produce a legal ruling on the meaning of the law. In 2004, we acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. One of our reasons for doing so was to enable us to consider, on a more empirical basis, the merits of the right of individual petition. We are currently reviewing the United Kingdom’s experience under the optional protocol.