PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

An effective parliament (II): Parliament’s involvement in international affairs I 159
to ministers on progress made in negotiations, debate the issue in parliament
and in the competent committees, and even accompany the minister to the
negotiations and thus get a better idea of the progress made.
As part of their efforts to redress this situation a number of parliaments
have set up specific human rights committees or given a human rights mandate
to existing parliamentary committees. Today there are 164 parliamentary
bodies that have an explicit human rights mandate. An increasing number of
parliaments have also created ombudsman institutions which often cooperate
with parliamentary human rights bodies. While these different instances work
regularly and closely with NGOs, their cooperation with international and
regional human rights bodies and the United Nations human rights mechanisms,
such as the special rapporteurs, constitutes the exception rather than the
rule. The IPU maintains a date base of these parliamentary human rights
mechanisms which can be consulted on its website. In addition, it brings
together the members of these bodies in an annual meeting, which also serves
to promote cooperation with the United Nations human rights machinery.
International treaties, including those in the area of human rights, need to
be ratified in order to take effect, an act which generally requires the approval
of parliament. A recent handbook jointly published by the IPU and the United
Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights sets out the steps
that parliamentarians can take in the course of a ratification process:
■ Check whether the government has ratified specific human rights treaties;
■ If not, determine whether the government has the intention of doing so; if
not, use parliamentary procedures to ascertain the reasons for such inaction
and to encourage the government to start the process of signature and
ratification without delay;
■ If a signing process is under way, check whether the government intends to
make reservations regarding the treaty and if so, ascertain whether these
reservations are necessary and compatible with the object and purpose of
the treaty; if they are groundless, take action to ensure that the government
backtracks; and
■ Check whether any reservations have been made regarding the treaties
which are already in force at the national level and whether they are still
necessary; if this is not the case, take action to ensure that the reservations
are withdrawn. (Human rights: Handbook for parliamentarians, 2005)
Beyond participating in and monitoring treaty negotiations and ensuring
their ratification, the challenges for parliaments to ensure their implementation