TNAG-1841-FCO40-2616-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 37

6. (a) Power to Sit Overseas

In the usual case, Select Committees sit at Westminster and issue

invitations or orders for witnesses to attend meetings of the

Committee at Westminster. However, there has been no doubt since

about the 1950s that Select Committees had power to sit outwith

Westminster, and, in particular, outwith the United Kingdom itself. It should be noted, however, that the powers of a Committee are

restricted when it sits and takes evidence overseas. According to

Erskine May, it cannot "exercise a power to send for persons, papers or documents". As a corollary of this, it invites witnesses to give.

evidence to it informally, and a formal record of the evidence is

not taken. In the words of Erskine May:

7.

"Select Committees travelling overseas now do so for the purpose of gathering information through informal visits and private discussions with representatives of official and other organisations in the countries visited".

What is meant by "overseas"

It is clearly important especially in relation to the work of the Foreign Affairs Committee to determine what is meant by "overseas" for these purposes. It is unlikely, in the first place, to mean simply outwith the geographical area of the UK, as this would exclude jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man or the Channel

Islands. More difficult is the question whether a dependent territory, with its own government, courts, and officials, is "overseas" for the purposes of the powers of a Select Committee.

8. The Clerk to the Foreign Affairs Committee has indicated informally that the reference in Erskine May to a Select Committee sitting "overseas" is not intended to encompass a Select Committee sitting "within the jurisdiction of Parliament", a term which includes, in their view, the dependent territories. As far as the Clerks are concerned, "overseas" means "within an independent foreign or Commonwealth country". A Select Committee can therefore require witnesses to attend if it takes evidence in a dependent