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Mr Gooda (WED)
Gooday1
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DEPENDENT TERRITORIES AND THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
1.
Last year the question of our standard reply to enquiries on the rights of individual petition under the European Convention with reference to the Dependent Territories was the subject of protracted minuting and discussions between departments and legal advisers. The upshot was a consensus in favour of the formulation that IMG "encourages" dependent territories to accept application of the European Convention and the extension of its right of individual petition. formula has since been used as the basis of our standard letter on the subject; for an example, see Mr Luard's letter to Lord Simon of 13 October 1976.
2.
Implicit in this formula was that it would be necessary to take appropriate action in due course with dependent territory governments. This point actually came up at the end of last year in a reply to our standard line from the Society of Friends. The letter (from Mrs Moriarty) was subsequently passed to your department for reply. We know from hard experience that, once the Society of Friends have the bit between their teeth, they will mount a co-ordinated campaign involving letters from every branch throughout the country. Our anxiety at that time was that it would obviously be undesirable if dependent territory governments were to receive their first indications of our policy from the Society of Friends.
3.
I now understand, as the result of a telephone conversation between Miss Jennings (UND) and Mr Morris (WED), that the question of encouraging the Dependent Territories to accept the European Convention may be in abeyance for the present, since many Dependent Territories will be awaiting the outcome of the Isle of Man birching case at Strasbourg before considering the matter further; and that no pressure has in the past been put on the Dependent Territories to accept the Convention, it having been left to individual territories to make their own decision.
4. If this is the case, perhaps we should consider either a change in the line we take with the public, or a more active policy towards the Dependent Territories? Otherwise, it will be difficult to reply convincingly to the numerous letters and Parliamentary Questions on this subject.
CODE 18-77
55 0/76
23 May 1977
CONFIDENTIAL
MK O Simpson-Orlebar United Nations Department K156 4330