BRIEFING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS: WHAT IS PARLIAMENT’S ROLE, AND WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Parliamentary committees such as the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC), the Lords International Agreements Committee, and the former Commons International Trade Committee – as well as external experts – have consistently called for a greater role for parliament in both making and approving international agreements. [...] They include large trade agreements between several states, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which the UK is in the process of joining; security, data or visa agreements between two governments; international human rights and refugee conventions; and agreements governing international organisations such as the EU or UN. [...] This was illustrated recently when the government refused to allocate time in the House of Commons to the Rwanda treaty, despite a recommendation to do so from the chamber’s Home Affairs Committee. [...] • The system in the House of Commons is more fragmented, and the chamber lacks a dedicated treaty scrutiny committee, as well as the resources that would accompany it. [...] How could scrutiny of international agreements be strengthened? A wide range of proposals have been made for reforming the scrutiny of international agreements, with significant recent reports by the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) and Lords International Agreements Committee, as well as two reports by the Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy.