Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

79771

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Sovereignty
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a nation.
tabling member printed	Lord Laird
uin	HL1660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The normal criteria for recognition of a nation or state are set out in the Written Answer by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 16 November 1989, House of Commons Hansard Official Report, Column 494, noted below for ease of reference:</p><p>“The normal criteria that we apply for recognition as a state are that it should have, and seem likely to continue to have, a clearly defined territory with a population, a Government who are able of themselves to exercise effective control of that territory, and independence in their external relations. Other factors, including some United Nations resolutions, may also be relevant.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:58:24 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

79773

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	War Crimes
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a war crime.
tabling member printed	Lord Laird
uin	HL1662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The definition of a war crime is set out in the International Criminal Court Act 2001, section 50 and Schedule 8 (which sets out the terms of Article 8.2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:58:51 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2479 label Biography information for Lord Laird

79800

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Diego Garcia
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 28 July (WA 249), whether they will now answer the question as tabled.
tabling member printed	Lord Ashcroft
uin	HL1689
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The United States is our most important bilateral ally and we have regular discussions on a range of sensitive issues. It is our longstanding position not to comment on discussions of that nature. With regard to Mr Belhaj allegedly stopping over in Diego Garcia, I refer the noble Lord to the response given by my noble friend, the former Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Baroness Warsi), on 17 June 2014, Official Report, Column WA36, that, aside from the two cases of rendition through Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory) in 2002, there have been no other instances in which US intelligence flights landed in the UK, our Overseas Territories, or the Crown Dependencies, with a detainee on board since 11 September 2001.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:55:55 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2568 label Biography information for Lord Ashcroft

79801

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Albania
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what agreements have been signed, to which the United Kingdom and Albania are both parties, for the period 1 March 2013 to the present; and whether they will place copies of any such agreements in the Library of the House and on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office database.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL1690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treaty database records all bilateral and multilateral treaties involving the United Kingdom signed since 1834. The FCO does not maintain a comprehensive central record or hold copies of the texts of memoranda of understanding concluded between Government Departments and other states or organizations.</p><p>Legally-binding agreements to which both the UK and Albania have become parties since 1 March 2013 are as follows:</p><p>Bilateral:</p><p>1. The Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital was signed on 26 March 2014 and was published as UK Treaty Series No. 3, 2014.</p><p>Multilateral:</p><p>2. The Arms Trade Treaty was signed by Albania on 3 June 2013 and by the United Kingdom on 3 June 2013. This was published as UK Miscellaneous Series No. 3, 2013.</p><p>3. Protocol No.15 amending the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [CETS No.213] was signed by Albania on 11 February 2014 and by the United Kingdom on 24 June 2014. The text to this treaty is published on the Council of Europe website.</p><p>All treaties, including those amending previous treaties, that are subject to ratification, accession, approval or completion of procedures are laid before both Houses of Parliament as a Command Paper for twenty-one sitting days in accordance with Part 2 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Those treaties which enter into force on signature do not have to be laid before Parliament for twenty-one sitting days but are laid before both Houses of Parliament as a Command Paper in the UK Treaty Series once they have entered into force.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:57:26 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey

79806

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Burma
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 24 July (HL Deb, cols 1324–8) to the debate on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, what representations they have made to the Burmese authorities about proposed new legislation to restrict religious conversions and inter-religious marriages there; and whether they will call on the United Nations Secretary-General to visit Burma to address religious intolerance and to encourage the creation of an international and independent inquiry into violence in Rakhine State, Kachin State and other parts of the country.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL1695
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>We have voiced our strong concerns over proposed legislation on inter-faith marriage and religious conversion to members of the Burmese government and parliamentarians. If enacted, these laws would harm religious tolerance and respect for diversity in Burma, and contravene international standards and treaties to which Burma is a signatory. Most recently, our Ambassador raised our concerns with Minister of the President’s Office, U Soe Thein, in June.</p><p>The UN Secretary-General (UNSG) currently chairs the Partnership Group on Burma, which last met in April. The UNSG and his Special Representative to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, both play vital roles in raising the international community’s human rights concerns with the Burmese government whilst providing encouragement for the wider reform process. We welcome the recent visit by the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, Ms Yanghee Lee, who rightly highlighted that the government needs to do more to stop the spread of hate speech and incitement to violence based on religious grounds and recommended the adoption of specific legislation to address this.</p><p>We remain deeply concerned by continued violence in Burma, particularly in Rakhine State and Kachin State. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes. Allegations of human rights abuses must be dealt with through a clear, independent and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards. We have made this clear to the Burmese government and will continue to do so. We continue to believe an independent investigation, supported by appropriate technical assistance, would make a significant contribution to accountability and reconciliation.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:56:23 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

79807

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Middle East
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of allegations that the Israeli Defence Force’s Operation Protective Edge has deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure.
tabling member printed	Baroness Tonge
uin	HL1696
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not made any assessment of the allegations that the Israeli Defence Forces have deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure. We have however made clear both in our public statements and diplomatic representations that whilst Israel had a right to self-defence, any response must be proportionate and maximum efforts made to avoid civilian casualties.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:54:48 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	200 label Biography information for Baroness Tonge

79820

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Middle East
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take to secure an independent international investigation of the level of civilian deaths and casualties in Gaza arising from Israel's military intervention in that territory to establish whether breaches of international law have occurred.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL1709
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The Government has not made any plans to take action to secure an independent international investigation into the Gaza crisis. The time to carry out any actions on this issue is in the future, once the situation in Gaza has de-escalated.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:52:27 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

79821

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Middle East
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take internationally to require Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL1710
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text In order to secure a lasting ceasefire, it will be vital to address the underlying causes of the conflict, including easing access restrictions to open up the economy of Gaza, whilst addressing Israel’s legitimate security concerns. There cannot simply be a return to the status quo ante. The UK will work with international partners, including the EU and the UN, to support this goal. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:53:01 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

79823

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Occupied Territories
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further action they plan to take internationally to ban the trade in goods and services from Israel's settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.
tabling member printed	Lord Warner
uin	HL1712
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text While the issue of settlement produce is a subject of active discussion with our EU partners, the Government has no plans to take this further internationally. We are working together to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. This ongoing work includes measures to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free, under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and steps to ensure that EU-wide guidelines are issued to make sure that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:54:16 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	1732 label Biography information for Lord Warner

79836

registered interest
date	30/07/2014
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Uganda
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what diplomatic initiatives they have undertaken following the passing of anti-homosexual legislation in Uganda; and to what extent are they supporting British non-governmental organisations in working towards a future of equality within the country.
tabling member printed	Lord Verjee
uin	HL1725
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/08/2014 answer text <p>The UK welcomes the decision of the Ugandan Constitutional Court on 1 August to annul the Anti-Homosexuality Act. We have consistently raised our concerns about the legislation with the Ugandan government. Most recently the Secretary of State for International Development, the right Hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening), and the former Minister for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my Hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), raised the issue in separate meetings with President Museveni on 6 May.</p><p>The UK has worked closely with international partners to register our concerns, and to seek assurances about the protection of individuals. With our support, EU Heads of Mission in Kampala initiated strengthened political dialogue with Uganda under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement.</p><p>We engage closely with UK and other civil society groups working in Uganda, and are stepping up our support to organisations that protect minority rights.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 18/08/2014 09:56:52 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4299 label Biography information for Lord Verjee