PART V
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
29 International
Relations and Treaties
(1) The Government -
(a) shall conduct the international relations
of the United Kingdom; and
(b) subject to this Constitution and Acts of
Parliament, has all necessary powers for that purpose, including
the powers to maintain diplomatic representatives abroad and to
receive in the United Kingdom diplomatic representatives from
other states.
(2) No draft treaty agreement concluded by the
Government of the United Kingdom shall be ratified or become binding
upon the United Kingdom, unless -
(a) the treaty is laid before Parliament; and
(b) within three months after it has been so
laid, each House of Parliament, by resolution, authorises the
Government to give consent for the United Kingdom to be bound
as a party to the treaty.
(3) A treaty is ratified and comes into force,
under the terms expressed in the treaty, by way of the Great Seal
of the Head of State being affixed in the office of the Clerk
in Chancery.
(4) For the purpose of this Article, the expression
"treaty" means an agreement in writing, governed by
international law, between the United Kingdom and another state
or an organisation of which only states are members.
30 The
European Union
(1) The law of the European Union and the United
Kingdom's obligations as a member of the European Union take effect
in the United Kingdom only under the legal authority of Acts of
the United Kingdom Parliament.[836]
(2) An Act of the United Kingdom Parliament will
lay down procedures to ensure the consent of Parliament and the
United Kingdom people at a referendum to any new or amending European
Union treaty that extends the objectives, competence or powers
of the European Union.[837]
836 Currently sections 1 to 3 of the European Communities
Act 1972 (as amended) provide the legal basis for European law
in the domestic law of the United Kingdom. Back
837
Currently section 2 of the European Union Act 2010 provides for
these procedures. Back
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