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UK Minister may have responsibilities extended to the Dependent Territories and will need to be satisfied that any local
legislation is satisfactory for the purpose.]
3.
The UK is, in almost all cases, the party to the agreement and it is therefore the UK Government which would be held legally responsible if a Dependent Territory to which the agreement had been extended failed to comply with the obligations imposed by it. (In a few cases a Dependent Territory is "entrusted" (ie authorised) by the UK to enter into an international agreement on its own behalf.) In all Dependent Territories the UK retains responsibility for external relations, although most Territories have a large degree of autonomy in domestic matters.
Problem
4.
Once an international agreement has been extended to a Dependent Territory, with few exceptions (eg where defence or labour matters are involved) there are limited means by which HMG can effectively monitor performance and compliance in the
Territory.
Even in cases where there is known or suspected
non-compliance, there may be political and, in some cases,
constitutional difficulties in the way of the UK Government
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