International Treaties

International treaties also impose minimum standards in relation to human rights. For example, in the Council of Europe there are conventions or directives on the prevention of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and on data protection. In the United Nations (UN) there are others on the rights of the child, discrimination, torture and refugees. These treaties do not usually allow the right of individual complaint but impose a duty on a government to report on its human rights record. In some cases they can involve spot checks.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is another important UN treaty which is binding on the UK. It is modelled on the ECHR but is more wide-ranging. The UK government has to report on its record under this treaty every five years and the United Nations Human Rights Committee most recently examined the UK's record in 2000. Unfortunately the government has refused to allow the right of individual petition, to allow complaints about breaches of the Covenant to be made directly to this Committee.

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