nec 241/2.
3 0 OCT 1991
Mr Watt
UND
From:
A I Aust
Date:
CC:
PS
Detachin hi
69
Legal Counsellor
24 October 1991
PS/Mr Garel-Jones
PS/Lord Caithness
PS/Mr Lennox-Boyd Mr Slater
Mr Broomfield
Head/News Department Head/Planners
Special Advisers Mr Riordan, HKD
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
1.
Mr Lennox-Boyd has asked whether the reservations which we will have to make on ratifying the Convention mean that the news we can give Parliament may not be completely good news. But if it is good news then we should consider an oral rather than a written PQ.
2. At the moment it is likely that in respect of the United Kingdom we shall have to make reservations on the following matters:
Immigration and nationality legislation.
Mixing of adults and children in prison.
Non-application of the Convention to the unborn.
Employment legislation for young people under 18 years.
Children's hearings in Scotland.
3. Any oral statement would have to refer to the fact that we were making reservations, but a bald listing of the categories could provoke awkward questions. Although the reservations are all perfectly respectable ones, they can only be understood by studying the full text; and thus would be too long to read out.
4. There may also be problems concerning the reservations which we will have to make for those dependent territories who are included in our ratification. This may be especially so in the case of Hong Kong where we shall probably have to make a reservation relating to Vietnamese boat people.
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