Recommendation 7

Currently, there is no requirement for Parliament to approve treaties. We find this situation untenable. Parliament’s approval must be sought when the Government seeks to bind or change in any material way the UK’s obligations under international law. We therefore recommend that, as a matter of constitutional principle, all treaties should require the explicit approval of the democratically elected House of Commons before they enter into force. To be clear, this would not change the fact that treaties are negotiated and entered into under prerogative power; instead it would make the exercise of that prerogative to enter into an agreement that places, alters or removes a legal obligation on the UK, or to withdraw from such an agreement, conditional on the explicit, active approval of the House of Commons.