The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill is a private member’s bill that originated in the House of Commons. It would allow the government to treat the two organisations in a similar way to international organisations of which the UK is a member. It has government and cross-party support. The bill is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 17 May 2024.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill (327 KB , PDF)
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill is a private member’s bill which was introduced in the House of Commons on 12 December 2023 by Dame Maria Miller (Conservative MP for Basingstoke). It is being sponsored in the House of Lords by Baroness D’Souza (Crossbench). The bill is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 17 May 2024. The government supports the bill, with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office providing explanatory notes.
The bill would change the status of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to mean that the government could treat them in a similar way to international organisations of which the UK is a member. The CPA is an international community of Commonwealth parliaments and legislatures with a mandate to promote and strengthen parliamentary democracy. It is currently a registered UK charity. The ICRC is an independent organisation that works to provide assistance for victims of conflict and other violence. Its mandate is enshrined in the 1949 Geneva conventions and their additional protocols.
The bill would give the government powers to grant the organisations certain privileges and immunities through an order in council. It would also provide for references to international organisations in general legislation to include the CPA and ICRC. Before an order in council could be made, it would have to be approved by both Houses of Parliament.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill (327 KB , PDF)
While international attention has largely been focused on the Middle East and Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan continues. The UN has characterised the conflict as the “world’s largest hunger crisis”. As peace negotiations stall, concerns are rising not only for the people of Sudan but also about the conflict spreading to neighbouring states.
This briefing provides a summary of a recent report by the international children’s rights charity Save the Children entitled ‘Stop the war on children: Let them live in peace’, as well as UK government policy in this area. It has been prepared ahead of Baroness Anelay of St Johns’ (Conservative) upcoming debate on 12 September 2024 on the government’s assessment of the impact of international conflict on children and the recommendations proposed in Save the Children’s report.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill seeks to allow the UK government to treat the CPA and the ICRC in a manner comparable to international organisations of which the UK is a member. This status change would allow the government to confer certain privileges and immunities on the two organisations. A previous version of the bill was introduced in the 2023-24 parliamentary session.
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