29 July 2015

Parliamentarians in Wellington for regional Human Rights conference

The New Zealand Parliament is hosting a regional seminar for Australian and Pacific Members of Parliament focused on strengthening the role of parliamentarians in the promotion and protection of human rights. The regional seminar is being hosted in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Deputy Speaker Hon Chester Borrows MP, Jacqui Dean MP, Sue Moroney MP and Catherine Delahunty MP will join parliamentary colleagues from the Pacific Region to discuss key human rights issues and take a practical approach to building parliamentarians’ capacity to address them.

The Speaker of the House, Rt Hon David Carter, said that he was very pleased to host this important seminar, “The New Zealand Parliament has implemented procedural reforms to strengthen the way in which parliamentarians scrutinise legislation, namely promoting select committee scrutiny of apparent inconsistencies with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. This seminar will allow New Zealand members to share experiences and best practice with respect to parliamentary oversight of human rights.”

“I am delighted that delegates from thirteen legislatures from across the Pacific and Australia, along with human rights experts from the Commonwealth, are able to come together in New Zealand for this seminar. They will look at human rights with a particular emphasis on the challenges faced by smaller democracies”, the Speaker continued.

Seminar sessions will include understanding the international human rights framework as it relates to domestic obligations, different approaches to human rights issues in practice from the perspective of parliamentarians, and the role of parliamentarians in relation to review processes and the implementation of recommendations.

The seminar runs from 30 July to 1 August.

ENDS

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