could be construed as a failure by Parliament to fulfil one of its vital roles – to scrutinize the actions of Ministers and hold government to account. He addressed the issue of
involving international organizations in the scrutiny of foreign policy and stated that this raised a number of challenges. However, he suggested that these challenges could be avoided if they develop an inter-parliamentary scrutiny policy, drawing in Members from different Parliaments.
factors so Parliament must oversee government actions in this area. Parliamentarians are usually poorly informed about the actions of their governments in foreign affairs, and it is necessary for Parliaments to develop new areas of scrutiny and the existing scrutiny should be made clearer and more precise. It was stated that small dependent
territories and subnational jurisdictions have difficulty in developing their international identities and their areas of parliamentary scrutiny. However,
“Parliamentarians are usually poorly informed about the actions of their governments in foreign affairs, and it is necessary for Parliaments to develop new areas of scrutiny and the existing scrutiny should be made clearer and more precise.”
In Jersey, just as elsewhere in
the Commonwealth, the main forms of parliamentary scrutiny are direct oversight from Parliament itself. This, he stated, takes the
• Reinforced scrutiny procedures, whilst simultaneously organizing seminars to discuss the use of comparative methods for exchange of ideas and best practices; • A broader dissemination of documentation relevant to interna- tional events in the world of foreign affairs, in advance of, as opposed to following, an international meeting. One such example would be the Climate Change Summit which is particularly relevant to small countries most notably to islands states; and • Greater openness to include the involvement of civil society through non-governmental organizations, the
media and the general public, particu- larly through the use of the internet.
Committee oversight Sen. Ian Gorst, Jersey’s Chief Minister, began his presentation by stating that it is not until the adoption of the States of Jersey Law in 2005 that Jersey was able to have a certain level of control over its foreign affairs. This area is therefore a new one for the jurisdiction. The Senator stated that foreign
affairs have often been considered a matter to be dealt with by Ministers without the involvement of Parliament and that this lack of involvement
form of questions from elected representatives, ratification of international agreements and the more structured scrutiny process conducted by panels and committees such as the United Kingdom House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee or, in Jersey’s case, the Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel. He was of the view that working in partnerships is one way to ensure that adequate scrutiny takes place.
The rightful role of Parliament The discussion leaders’ presentations generated a lot of discussion with primary focus being on the difficulties faced by Parliamentarians with regards to scrutiny of foreign and international affairs. A number of Members gave
examples from the experience of their jurisdictions. In general, the session emphasized that national policy is affected by international and especially intergovernmental
their involvement in foreign affairs was seen as necessary to develop consistent foreign policies for all parties. A number of suggestions
were put forwarded to address the issue of ensuring adequate parliamentary scrutiny of foreign and commonwealth affairs, and these included the following:
• The Commonwealth Parliamen- tary Association (CPA) should assist small Parliaments in scrutinizing inter- national agreements by facilitating an exchange of information; • Cross-party committees, with appropriate legal and other expertise and administrative support, should also focus on foreign and Com- monwealth affairs prior to debate by Parliament; • Jurisdictions should review draft treaties from the perspective of how they will affect the lives of citizens; and • Though it may be a challenge to establish a majority consensus among parliamentary parties, it is important for legislators to be involved in international agreements when they are being drafted, not just when they are to be ratified.