Trade and Foreign Office ministers to face MPs on scrutiny of international treaties

• Watch Parliament TV: The Scrutiny of International Treaties and other international agreements in the 21st century
• Inquiry: The Scrutiny of International Treaties and other international agreements in the 21st century
• Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee

The final hearing of the inquiry will explore the Government’s view on calls to strengthen the parliamentary scrutiny of trade deals and other international agreements. The number of international agreements  and their influence on citizens’ lives has grown significantly, yet scrutiny arrangements have remained largely unchanged for nearly a last century, even diminishing since the UK left the EU

In previous sessions of this inquiry, former Commons library clerk and legal expert Arabella Lang described the current system for scrutinising treaties—under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010— as a “weak, opaque and outdated system that is not fit for purpose”.

Lord Frost, former chief Brexit negotiator, told the Committee he believed it would be helpful to have parliamentary debate on negotiating positions for treaties, which would be much earlier that under the current process.

The Committee will interrogate the Government’s position on the parliamentary scrutiny of international agreements and examine the potential for reforming scrutiny arrangements.

Witnesses 

Wednesday 14 June 2023, Committee Room 15, Palace of Westmisnter

From 10am 

• David Rutley MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Americas and Caribbean), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office
• Nigel Huddleston MP, Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade
• Paul Berman, FCDO Legal Director
• Leonie Lambert, Deputy Director, Parliamentary Policy & Strategy, Department for Business and Trade

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: Parliamentary Copyright