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Dependent Territories
Ms Abbott:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the current review of the status of Britain's dependent territories will be completed; and if he will make a statement. [14988]
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Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We hope to complete the review to coincide with the Dependent Territories Association Conference scheduled to take place in London on 4 February of next year.
Ms Abbott:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs who will be responsible for drawing up the review of Britain's dependent territories; and if Governments of the dependent territories themselves will be invited to make submissions. [14990]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We are responsible for drawing up the review, consulting other Ministries and Governments of Dependent Territories. The Government of Gibraltar were already considering proposals for constitutional change before we announced this review. We will therefore be looking at these proposals separately.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many members of the current UNISCOM Inspection Team in Iraq are from the United Kingdom; and if he will indicate their qualifications for being part of the UNISCOM team. [14712]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
There are currently 11 UK personnel serving with the UN Special Commission in Baghdad. All have been provided in response to specific requests from the Special Commission for people with the skills required in the Special Commission's work--for example, an understanding of biological or chemical weapons technology.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Minister of the Crown signed the treaty of Amsterdam; and if he will list the topics of each declaration made by Her Majesty's Government, or to which they are a party, indicating dates on which these were published, and place of publication. [15058]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
I signed the Treaty of Amsterdam on behalf of the Crown. The United Kingdom participated in the 51 Declarations adopted by the Conference and annexed to the Final Act of the Conference. Those Declarations are listed, and reproduced, in a Command Paper--Cm 3780--which was published on 29 October 1997.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 27 October, Official Report, column 665, if he will list those articles of the signed version of the treaty of Amsterdam, and those of the provisional version (CONF 4001/97) published on 19 June, which will require referral by courts and tribunals of member states of the European Union to the Court of Justice of the European Community
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in Luxembourg, broken down into those which are (a) part of and (b) not part of the area of freedom, security and justice provided for in the provisional version above. [15034]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
Except as set out in (ii) below, no article of the Treaty of Amsterdam requires courts and tribunals of Member States to refer questions to the European Court of Justice.
In the Area of Freedom Security and Justice: (i) Member States are given the option under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union to accept the jurisdiction of the ECJ to give preliminary rulings on measures adopted under this Title. (ii) under Article 73p of the new title IIIa of the EC Treaty (draft Article H in the preliminary version CONF 4001/97), Member States' courts of last instance may in some circumstances be required to refer to the ECJ.
In other areas, there is no modification of the arrangements for preliminary rulings set out in Article 77 of the EC Treaty.
Mr. McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the United Kingdom Government have made on the Swedish Government's failure to nominate Judge Briton Sundberg-Weitman for appointment to the European Court of Justice. [15281]
Mr. McDonnell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek a review of the procedure for the appointment of judges to the European Court of Justice to ensure appointments are made on the basis of competence and do not discriminate against women and ethnic minorities. [15282]
Mr. Doug Henderson:
No. Appointments to the European Court of Justice are made in accordance with Article 167 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which states that:
"The Judges and Advocates-General shall be chosen from persons whose independence is beyond doubt and who possess the highest judicial offices in their respective countries or who are jurisconsults of recognized competence; they shall be appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States for a term of six years."
So far as UK appointments are concerned, our policy is to nominate the best qualified candidate, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, political affiliation or, subject to the physical requirements of the office, disability.
Mr. Austin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead dated 24 April, 17 June and 23 September; what is his Department's standard for response times to letters from hon. Members; and if he will make a statement. [15624]
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Mr. Fatchett:
The letters referred to by my hon. Friend were answered on 7 November 1997. As to my Department's response times to letters from hon. Members I would refer my hon. Friend to the replies I gave to my hon. Friends the Members for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) and for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) on 4 November, Official Report, column 166-67.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list each of the overseas trips made by himself and other members of his ministerial team since 2 May, specifying in each case (a) the participating Minister or Ministers, (b) the destination of the trip, (c) the purpose of the trip and (d) the cost of the trip; and if he will make a statement. [15216]
| Date | Venue | Purpose of visit | Total cost £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| May | |||
| 7(1) | Germany, France | Bilateral | 5,550 |
| 12-13 | France | WEU Ministerial | 5,480 |
| 18-20 | USA, Netherlands(1) | Bilateral | 33,040 |
| 23 | Netherlands | Special European Council | 7,638 |
| June | |||
| 2 | Luxembourg | General Affairs Council | 19,692 |
| Italy | Bilateral | ||
| 5-6(1) | Sweden | European Socialist Meeting | 4,669 |
| 16-17(1) | Netherlands | European Council | 11,347 |
| 20-22 22-23 | USA (Denver and New York) | G7 Summit and UN Special Session on Environment | 128,312 15,750 |
| 27-1 July(2) | Hong Kong | Handover | 89,777 |
| July | |||
| 7-9 | Spain | NATO Summit | 34,443 |
| 13-15 | Russian Federation | Bilateral | 34,017 |
| 22(1) | Belgium | General Affairs Council/ Inter-Governmental Conference | 3,717 |
| 27-29 | Bosnia, Croatia | Bilateral | 18,172 |
| August | |||
| 26-1 September | Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore | Bilateral | 191,241 |
| September | |||
| 9 | Germany | Bilateral | 7,313 |
| 14-15(1) | Belgium | General Affairs Council | 7,486 |
| 21-26(1) | USA | United Nations General Assembly | 102,609 |
| October | |||
| 6-9 12-15 | Pakistan India | In attendance upon Her Majesty The Queen | 16,206 |
| November | |||
| 3 | Ireland | Bilateral | 4,796 |
| 9-10 | Belgium | General Affairs | 7,500 |
(1) Accompanied by Mr. D. Henderson MP.
(2) Accompanied by Mr. D. Fatchett MP.
FCO Ministers undertook the following overseas visits during the same period:
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