Documents to download

The Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Ratification of Convention) Bill is a House of Commons private member’s bill introduced by Eilidh Whiteford (SNP MP for Banff and Buchan) and is sponsored in the House of Lords by Baroness Gale (Labour). The Bill has completed all stages in the House of Commons and is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 10 March 2017.

The Bill seeks to encourage the Government to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (referred to as the Istanbul Convention)[ii], which the UK signed on 8 June 2012 but has yet to ratify. The Bill makes a number of provisions in this regard. It would require the Secretary of State to lay a report before each House setting out the steps required to enable the UK to ratify the Convention, and the timescale within which this is expected to happen. The report would have to be laid as soon as reasonably practicable after the Act came into force. Clause two would require the Secretary of State to lay a report before both Houses each year until ratification, setting out any changes to the timescale contained in previous reports; administrative measures taken by the government to enable the UK to ratify the Convention; legislative proposals brought forward to enable to UK to ratify; and measures to be taken and legislation required to enable the UK to ratify the Convention.

The Bill would require the first annual report to be laid no later than 1 November 2017.


Documents to download

Related posts

  • Holocaust Memorial Day 2025

    Holocaust Memorial Day takes place each year on 27 January, marking the date of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945. It commemorates the Holocaust during the second world war and subsequent genocides. This year’s commemoration was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. In 2025, King Charles III became the first British head of state to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

    Holocaust Memorial Day 2025
  • Youth mobility schemes

    The UK has schemes to allow young people from specific countries to come to the UK to live and work for a limited period of time. In April 2024, the European Commission made a proposal to the European Council to open negotiations with the UK on agreeing a youth mobility scheme between the UK and the EU. The Labour government has stated that it has no plans for a scheme with the EU. Several organisations have expressed support for it, but others have expressed concern that it would be a return to a form of freedom of movement.

    Youth mobility schemes
  • Rape: Levels of prosecutions

    In the 2021 ‘End-to-end rape review’, the Conservative government pointed to a sharp decrease in rape prosecutions since 2016/17. Issues cited include long delays during the criminal justice process and a lack of specialist support for victims. Labour’s 2024 general election manifesto argued prosecutions were “shamefully low”. It committed to specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force and specialist courts to fast-track rape cases.

    Rape: Levels of prosecutions