CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
Telephone 01-
Pa
Nataba
MON 145
A J Carter Esq
Director of Immigration Government Secretariat
Hong Kong
Your reference
Our reference
Date
15 September 1986
Dear Cato,
НИК. ЗАОД
RECEIVEL REGISTRY
23 SEP 1986
PA
REGISTRY Acuon Taken
VISIT BY MR VITERLINDEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS FOR IDENTITY DOCUMENTS AND MOVEMENT OF PERSONS (CAHID)
1.
We
Please refer to your tel 2947 about this visit. understand that Mr Viterlinden's visit was in his capacity as head of Passport and Police Affairs Section of Dutch MFA and not as Chairman of the above committee.
2.
CAHID is an expert group on which senior officials of the 21 member countries of the Council of Europe may participate; though in practice only about half are represented, Committee members are officials of Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs and can therefore be expected to promote their government's views. However the subject of your concern, expressed in the penultimate sentence of telegram under reference, is outside CAHID terms of reference which include inter alia
i)
harmonisation and multilateral recognition of national identity cards
ii)
facilitating the passage at frontiers between member states
iii) legal protection of travel documents particularly against forgery and fraudulant use
iv)
legal problems linked with the movement of children
and v) improving the situation and movement of nomads in Europe
3.
Most decision making in the Council of Europe is taken at the level of Ministers Deputies who meet monthly in Strasbourg. They decide on proposals made by this Committee. Decisions annually take the form of Recommendations which by definition "recommend" a course of action by governments which they may or may not subsequently choose to follow.
CONFIDENTIAL
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