Lords Committee calls for evidence on treaty scrutiny
11 March 2025
The House of Lords International Agreements Committee has today launched a call for evidence to support its inquiry into the UK treaty scrutiny process.
- Call for evidence
- Submission form
- Inqury: Review of treaty scrutiny
- International Agreements Committee
The inquiry
The International Agreements Committee is conducting an inquiry into the treaty scrutiny process in the UK as set out in sections 20-25 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. This legislation requires the Government to lay treaties before Parliament for 21 sitting days before they are ratified. Parliament thus has very little time to conduct detailed scrutiny in most cases which restricts its ability to hold the Government accountable.
The inquiry will build on the Committee’s own experience of treaty in the five years since it was established. The International Agreements Committee remains the only body in either House of Parliament with a mandate dedicated to treaty scrutiny. The Committee will focus in particular on the following areas:
- the 21-day scrutiny period and mechanisms which could be used to allow Parliament more time;
- scope of the current scrutiny requirement;
- adequacy of the provision information by the Government;
- scrutiny of non-binding instruments;
- FCDO’s role in coordinating across Government;
- treaty scrutiny in other countries.
Chair's comments
Lord Goldsmith, Chair of the International Agreements Committee, said:
“Treaties often deal with matters of significant public importance such as trade, environment, defence, human rights or immigration.”
“Under the UK constitution, the Government has a wide power to strike deals with other countries with only limited scrutiny by Parliament. This is because the relevant legislation, in Part 2 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, gives Parliament only a restricted role in reviewing treaties.”
“The aim of our inquiry is to assess what changes are needed so that Parliament can properly exercise its role of holding the Government to account in this area.”
“We therefore encourage everyone with an interest in this issue to submit their views to assist our work.”