When will the UN conventions on the rights of the child and the elimination against discrimination against women will be ratified for Jersey

1240/5(1792)

QUESTION TO BE ASKED OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE ON TUESDAY, 18th FEBRUARY 2003 BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. MARTIN

Question

1. Being mindful that the UnitedNationsConventions on the Rightsofthe Child and for the Elimination of Discrimination AgainstWomen have been ratified by and for the UK for manyyears, what plans are thereto ensure that theseimportantConventions are ratified for Jerseyin the near future?
2. Is there any constitutional or other barrier which prevents the incorporation of the UN Covenant on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights into the domestic law of Jersey and are thereany plans soto do?
3. Is Jersey requiredto prepare a HumanRights Plan of Action as recommendedunder the 1993Vienna Declaration andProgrammeofAction and if so, whatprogresshas been made with its preparation?

Answer

United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child

1. In 1994, the Insular Authorities were asked by the UnitedKingdomGovernmentwhether its ratification of the Conventionshouldbeextendedto Jersey. Theresponsegivenwas that although Jersey confirmed that it did wish for this to happen, itwasrecognised that certain deficiencies in theIsland'sdomestic laws needed to be addressed first, in order that the Island couldmeet obligations undertheConvention.

S  ince then, the majority of those legal deficiencies have been corrected and I am advised that the only

remaining substantive issue relates to Article 32 of the Convention which covers - "the right of children to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with a child's education, or to be harmful to a child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development".

M  embers will recall that, following an unsuccessful attempt by a former Education Committee in 1994, in

May 2001 the Health and Social Services Committee, as previously constituted, made an Order entitled Employment of Children (General Provisions)(Jersey) Order 2001'. Members may also recall that following expressions of concerns by States members and other interested parties, that Committee agreed to revoke that Order in July 2001, in order to allow time for further consultation and to obtain further legal advice. To date that is where the matter rests.

H  owever, I confirm that as soon as the child employment issues are resolved, and of course as long as there

are no further legal impediments uncovered, the Policy and Resources Committee will consider requesting the United Kingdom to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on Jersey's behalf.

United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

I n 1998, the Policy and Resources Committee of the day, published R.C.30/1998 in which it recommended

that Jersey should not join in Her Majesty's Government's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. In that report the Committee advised that:

( i )  it was in agreement with the findings of a group of interested persons, brought together by the then

Deputy Imogen Nicholls of Grouville and which included Senator Wendy Kinnard, representatives of Soroptomist International, Whitely 90, the Jersey Women's Refuge, a journalist, a local business woman and a local lawyer; and,

( ii ) had concluded that the Convention should not be adopted wholesale, but that a formal process should be initiated in consultation with the relevant Committees of the States for promoting and progressing of

various matters covered by the Convention that are of particular relevance for the Island.

S ince 1998, some success has been achieved in relation to women's rights, through the development of

particular policies to provide support to women in work and on child care issues. It is also true to say that no issues of substance have been brought to the attention of the previous two Policy and Resources Committees that would have led them to conclude that that earlier decision was in any way flawed. However, given the passage of time and the fact that the world has, in many ways, moved on, I suggest it is time for this matter to be looked at again and I will therefore be raising it with the Policy and Resources Committee in the near future.

2. In following the UnitedKingdomGovernment'sleadonthis, the Policy and Resources Committee presently has no plans topromote legislation which would havethe effect of incorporating the U.N.Covenanton Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights fully into domestic law. However, just like the UnitedKingdom, the content of the Covenant is borne in mind when relevant policy and legislative issues are beingconsidered and, in taking executive decisions, the relevant Committees will also want to act consistently with the Covenant.
3. Giventhe particular phrasingofthequestion,the Policy and ResourcesDepartment has consulted with the Lord Chancellor'sDepartment.TheLordChancellor'sDepartment has, in turn, consulted with the Foreign and CommonwealthOffice which has confirmed that this Declaration does notplaceany obligation on member states as it is not a treaty or convention and isnot registered on the FCO treaty database. It appears to benothingmore than a declaration madefollowingtheworldconferenceonhuman rights inViennain 1993.