Human Rights Committee

117 th session

Summary record of the 3267th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 20 June 2016, at 3 p.m.

Chair:Mr. Salvioli

Contents

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant (continued)

Sixth periodic report of Denmark

The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant (continued)

Sixth periodic report of Denmark (CCPR/C/DNK/6; CCPR/C/DNK/Q.6)

1. At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Denmark took places at the Committee table.

2.Mr. Rehfeld (Denmark), introducing his country’s sixth periodic report (CCPR/C/DNK/6), said that Denmark attached great importance to keeping human rights high on the agenda around the world and in Denmark. Substantial resources were invested in protecting and promoting human rights globally, and at the national level all proposed legislation included, if relevant, a section on its human rights implications. In addition, an intergovernmental working group monitored the action taken by Denmark on all the recommendations made to it by the United Nations treaty bodies.

3.The frequency with which solitary confinement was used during pretrial detention, which had been referred to in the list of issues prior to reporting (CCPR/C/DNK/Q.6), had fallen considerably since 2001. There had been a particular focus on limiting the solitary confinement of minors. Nonetheless, convicted prisoners or detainees awaiting trial who violated the rules on the use of mobile phones were quickly placed in disciplinary cells. The cells used for solitary confinement were well equipped, and prison officials focused on minimizing the potential negative consequences of such confinement.

4.Earlier in 2016, the Government had taken initiatives in response to the large recent influx of refugees into Europe. Other initiatives had been taken in response to the threat of religious extremism in Denmark. The comprehensiveness of the efforts that had been made to ensure that those initiatives were in line with the country’s human rights obligations had not always been properly conveyed by the media.

5.In recent years, the United Nations treaty bodies had considered a large number of individual complaints against Denmark. Indeed, in 2014, more than 25 per cent of all new cases before the treaty bodies had been complaints against Denmark. The number of cases brought against Denmark in the European Court of Human Rights had been far smaller, making for a puzzling discrepancy. It was sometimes hard for the Danish authorities to understand why, in particular cases, the Committee found that Denmark had violated the provisions of the Covenant. One possible explanation was that many of the cases brought against Denmark seemed to be in violation of the Committee’s own rules of procedure. The Danish authorities were also puzzled when the Committee relied on exclusively written proceedings to dismiss the conclusions reached by the Danish authorities on the basis of oral proceedings in which the authorities had direct access to the persons concerned and to all the evidence in the case.

6.Efforts had been made to explain Danish asylum procedures to members of the treaty bodies. Earlier in 2016, for example, two Committee members had met with the President of the Refugee Appeals Board. Although the Danish authorities fully supported the individual complaints mechanisms, they were of the view that the influence and effectiveness of the treaty body system depended on its perceived fairness and consistency and that it was therefore their duty to express their concerns to the Committee.

7.Ms. Bengsten (Denmark) said that under the Act on Greenland Self-Government, adopted in 2009, specific legislative and governmental powers had been devolved to Greenland. The Greenland Human Rights Council had been established in 2013, and in 2014 the mandate of the Danish Institute for Human Rights had been extended to cover Greenland. The two institutions worked together to promote human rights in Greenland.

8.In 2010, Greenland had assumed responsibility for the management of its mineral resources, thereby paving the way for foreign direct investment in its minerals sector. The Greenland Mineral Resources Act contained provisions on the involvement of civil society, environmental impact assessments and social sustainability. The Act had been amended to ensure that appropriate consultations were held before any project applications were submitted.

9.The corporal punishment of children in Greenland would be formally prohibited later in 2016, once the Danish Government had adopted the legislation implementing the Danish Act on Parental Responsibility in Greenland. In addition, steps had been taken to help municipal caseworkers deal with cases of child neglect.

10.Efforts had also been made to promote gender equality in Greenland. Women held a number of appointed or elective offices, including the two seats reserved for representatives of Greenland in the Danish parliament. Men and women were equally represented on the boards of most companies owned by the Government of Greenland, in accordance with the Gender Equality Act.

11.Greenland was committed to human rights, but, with a population of just 56,000, it was a challenge for it to develop a comprehensive institutional and legislative framework akin to that found in countries with much larger populations. The parliament of Greenland was therefore set to resume debate on how best to meet that challenge.

12.Ms. Nónklett (Denmark) said that the Faroe Islands, like their Nordic neighbours, had a high standard of living and a well-developed welfare system. Since the introduction of home rule in 1948, Faroese authorities had had full responsibility for most domestic affairs. Immigration matters, however, which were of increasing importance, were still under Danish control. An integration plan was currently under development.

13.Work on a new Faroese constitution had resumed in recent years. It would enter into force if and when it was approved by voters in a referendum planned for late 2017. The Faroese Government had sought advice on the establishment of a human rights institution in line with the Paris Principles. Other recent developments included the consultation of relevant stakeholders on a proposal to criminalize rape in all circumstances, including within marriage, the drafting of amendments to the Faroese Criminal Code in Faroese rather than in Danish and the adoption of measures to encourage mothers and fathers to share the burden of housework and childcare more equitably. Nearly one third of the members of the Faroese parliament were women, as were half the members of the cabinet of the current Faroese Prime Minister. The Faroese parliament had adopted a proposal to allow civil same-sex marriages. It would come into force when the Danish authorities had amended the relevant legislation.

14.Mr. Seetulsingh said that further information about recent initiatives in the areas of immigration and crime would be welcome, in particular as it seemed that amendments to the Aliens Act had narrowed the scope of human rights protection in the State party. It would be interesting to know, for instance, whether reports that married couples were separated when they applied for asylum were accurate.

15.He wondered whether the Danish authorities planned to allow asylum seekers to appeal the decisions of the Refugee Appeals Board to the State party’s courts. Such a possibility could help reduce the large number of individual complaints against Denmark, which was in any event not a reflection of the country’s human rights record. He also asked how many times since 2012 the Board had reversed its own decisions.

16.Mr. Iwasawa said that Denmark was to be commended for having narrowed the scope of its reservation to article 14 (5) of the Covenant. However, he asked whether the reservations to articles 14 (1) and 20 (1), and in particular to article 10 (3), second sentence, and article 14 (7) were really necessary. How valuable was it, for example, to maintain flexibility with regard to the separation of juvenile offenders from adult offenders. Was it necessary to specify that criminal proceedings that had led to a criminal conviction or acquittal might be reopened in certain circumstances?

17.He also wished to know on what basis the Government had decided that none of the United Nations human rights treaties should be incorporated into Danish law, and whether it was willing to reconsider that decision.

18.The sixth periodic report of Denmark (CCPR/C/DNK/6) indicated that the Danish courts had expressly applied provisions of the Covenant in nine cases between 2001 and 2014, even though the Covenant had not been incorporated into domestic law. According to information received by the Committee, the courts in those cases had relied mainly on the European Convention on Human Rights and had paid little attention to the Covenant. It would be useful to know the basis for the assertion that the Covenant had been “expressly” applied.

19.Turning to the matter of the individual communications procedure, he said that he wondered what value the State party placed on the Views of the Committee, and what mechanisms were in place to implement those Views.

20.In addition, he would like information on the outcome of plans and strategies to combat violence against women, as well as on any new criminal provisions related to sex crimes. The State party’s report indicated that the incidence of violence against women had decreased; other sources, however, showed higher figures for partner violence. It would be useful to know what measures had been taken to ensure a systematic approach to responding to partner violence throughout Denmark.

21.The Committee welcomed the changes that had been made to the rules on the revocation of residence permits in cases involving domestic violence. In that connection, he asked who had the burden of proving that abuse had occurred.

22.Ms. Seibert-Fohr said that in many cases, the application of the Committee’s recommendations arising from individual communications had proven satisfactory. In the cases that were still pending, however, she wondered what was preventing the State party from implementing the Committee’s Views. She was concerned that the Refugee Appeals Board, when it reopened proceedings in deportation cases, failed to consider the substantive issues raised by the Committee’s Views. She asked about the standard of review applied by the Board in determining that a foreigner sent back to the country of origin would or would not be subject to ill-treatment. The Committee, when finding in favour of the author of a communication, requested the State party to consider all relevant facts.

23.The delegation of Denmark had said that the Government was puzzled when the Committee dismissed the assessments of national authorities. Citing communication No. 2001/2010, Q. v. Denmark, she said it was clear that the procedure was flawed. She asked about subsequent developments in that case, and wondered why the State party had chosen to wait for a decision of the European Court of Human Rights before implementing the Committee’s Views.

24.She would also like to know why, in the view of Denmark, there was such a great disparity between the number of human rights cases that came before the European Court of Human Rights and those that came before the Human Rights Committee. Could the explanation be that the Danish courts directly applied the European Convention on Human Rights but did not adequately apply the provisions of the Covenant? Did the State party have an established procedure for implementing the Committee’s Views and was the Committee’s jurisprudence taken into account in the elaboration of relevant legislation?

25.Ms . Jelić, noting the lower level of human rights protection in the Faroe Islands and Greenland compared with the rest of Denmark, said that an independent body was needed to monitor the implementation of the Covenant in those two territories in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles). She noted that the remit of the Danish Institute for Human Rights had been expanded to cover Greenland but not the Faroe Islands. Clarification of that situation would be welcome.

26.Turning to the matter of gender equality, she asked what had been the results of the 2013 strategy on gender mainstreaming, and to what extent it had affected representation by women in public life. It would be useful to know what actions the State party took when companies did not comply with the requirement to carry out gender equality assessments in the workplace, and what entity received the reports on the status of fulfilment of gender representation targets referred to in paragraph 73 of the State party’s report.

27.In addition, she asked if the delegation could provide more recent figures on exposure to violence in the family and in intimate relations.

28.Figures would also be welcome on the employment gap between men and women in the immigrant and refugee communities. Finally, she asked if the integration benefit bill, described in paragraph 90 of the report, had come into force, and whether concrete steps had been taken to combat inequality in its application.

29.Mr. de Frouville said that the number of individual communications from a State party was not necessarily an indication of the number of violations, but might merely indicate that the State upheld the right of its citizens to invoke the provisions of the human rights treaties. A surfeit of such communications indicated that the Committee should work together with the State party to better implement the Committee’s findings.

30.Referring to Denmark’s reply to the issues raised in paragraph 8 of the list of issues, he said that an updated analysis of the impact of new antiterrorism measures on human rights in that country would be of interest. Civil society critics had pointed out that the crime of terrorism was vaguely defined. It would be useful to know to what extent the matter of freedom of speech had been assessed in the conviction of a broadcasting company for promoting terrorist activities, and whether related Danish legislation could be modified to avoid any suppression of Covenant rights.

31.Regarding the issue of the revocation of the passports of persons suspected of posing a danger to national security, public order or the security of other States, he asked whether those measures had been assessed for their impact on Covenant rights.

32.He said that he would appreciate additional information on the expansion of the powers of the Security and Intelligence Service, and on the provisions of the Administration of Justice Act permitting the police to implement wiretapping in cases considered urgent without the consent of a judge but with subsequent review by a judge. The interception and use of communications made by persons in foreign countries raised questions. He would like to know what guarantees were in place to protect the right to privacy, and how the Danish Government viewed the extraterritorial implementation of surveillance measures in light of the Covenant.

33.Above all, it was important to consider to what extent the broadening of surveillance powers was counterbalanced by an expansion of protections.

34.He asked to what extent foreign nationals potentially facing expulsion effectively enjoyed the right to defence, given that, under the Aliens Act, the specific information held by the authorities on the grounds for expulsion could be accessed by the special appointed lawyer but not by the foreign national or his or her appointed lawyer. Information on how the national authorities ensured legal balance in that regard would be welcome. He asked whether a Danish-Moroccan dual national who had been stripped of his Danish citizenship for promoting terrorism could be expelled from the country and whether information was available on his exact current legal status. He also wished to know how the national authorities reconciled domestic legislation on the revocation of Danish citizenship solely targeting dual nationals with article 26 of the Covenant.

35.Turning to the issue of rendition flights referred to in paragraph 9 of the list of issues, he asked whether the report issued by the Danish Institute for International Studies, supporting the conclusion of an interministerial working group that it was impossible to ascertain whether such flights had entered national airspace, had really put an end to the controversy surrounding the issue, whether appropriate lessons had been learned and whether specific measures had been adopted to prevent the future use of national airspace and airports by rendition flights.

36.Mr. Shany said that he was impressed by the processes and independence of the Danish Refugee Appeals Board and its rate of recognition of applications for refugee status. In order to reduce the number of individual complaints against Denmark brought before the Committee, issues such as the exhaustion of domestic remedies should be addressed. It was up to the national authorities to decide whether or not to set up another body for that purpose. It was unclear as to how the Committee could reject individual complaints on the basis of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, when no wide-ranging domestic remedies were available following referral to the Refugee Appeals Board. It was essential to incorporate the Covenant into domestic law.

37.Leaving aside the issue of the credibility of asylum seekers, all relevant factors must be taken into account, risk assessments carried out and medical examinations performed in order to substantiate allegations of torture. The European Court of Human Rights had significant influence on the national authorities with regard to the analysis of cases and decisions on admissibility. Unlike the Court, the Committee tended to take a case-by-case approach to repatriation issues and applied different criteria with regard to specific assurances. Given those differences, it was unrealistic to expect a change in the number of individual complaints.

38.Sir Nigel Rodley said that Denmark was to be congratulated on its work to combat torture and to promote and protect human rights. On the issue of individual communications, the Committee did not consider the positions adopted by the European Court of Human Rights to be automatically self-evident. Where a State had entered a reservation to the effect that the Committee could not hear a complaint that had already been dealt with by the Court and the Court had given only cursory reasons, or no reasons at all, for dismissal, even if the complaint had been found to be manifestly ill-founded, the Committee did not consider that to be sufficient for the reservation to be applicable.

39.Consequently, the Committee could not take on faith every decision of the Danish Refugee Appeals Board and required supporting evidence. It was not unreasonable for the Committee to request the State party to provide evidence of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. Any decision on whether there was sufficient substantiation for the purpose of communicating a case to the State party would, to a certain extent, be subjective. The Refugee Appeals Board was in a better position than the Committee to determine credibility. However, the Committee required assurances that sufficient attention had been given to the allegations made in relation to a communication, and it was important for the Board and the national authorities to make clear to the Committee the grounds for any adverse decisions taken in that regard.

The meeting was suspended at 4.40 p.m. and resumed at 5 p.m.

40.Mr. Rehfeld (Denmark) said that the Committee would be provided with statistical data in writing within 48 hours. Two national expert committees had concluded that United Nations instruments should not be incorporated into domestic law. However, international treaties were a source of law that could be invoked and applied by the domestic courts and other judicial bodies. The Faroe Islands and Greenland were subject to the obligations arising from the international agreements to which Denmark was a party and must comply with them, both in law and in practice. The Government of Denmark bore ultimate responsibility in that regard and consulted with the Governments of the Faroe Islands and Greenland in cases of non-compliance.

41.In 2008, an interministerial working group had concluded that it was impossible to ascertain whether Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) rendition flights had passed through the airspace of Denmark, Greenland or the Faroe Islands and that, consequently, the Government of Denmark could not be held accountable for illegal actions allegedly carried out by the CIA or any other foreign authorities; a 2012 investigation carried out by the independent Danish Institute for International Studies had supported that conclusion. Existing control mechanisms were adequate to deal with incidents of illegal rendition flights. The Government considered the matter to be closed and had publicly made clear its opposition to the transportation of detained persons for the purposes of torture, ill-treatment and other violations of fundamental human rights.

42.Information on the individual complaints procedure and the criteria employed by the Committee in that regard would be welcome. Details of the functioning of the Danish Refugee Appeals Board, its regulations and its decision-making process would be provided in writing.

43.Ms. Bengtsen (Denmark) said that, with regard to article 7 of the Covenant, significant progress had been made since the entry into force of the Act on Greenland Self-Government in 2009. A 2014 Danish Institute for Human Rights report had highlighted a wide range of recommendations being implemented by the Government of Greenland. The Greenland Human Rights Council would be evaluated in 2016, as part of efforts to improve the human rights situation and related monitoring. Priority had been given to data collection, in order to improve understanding of the challenges faced by children and their living conditions. The Ministry of Health had recently launched an action plan to prevent substance abuse within the family and had more than doubled funding in that area.

44.Ms. Nónklett (Denmark) said that a government working group and the Danish Institute for Human Rights were currently discussing the issue of the establishment of a Faroese human rights monitoring institution. Talks had also been held with a number of national human rights institutions in that regard. In addition, meetings would be convened with all relevant stakeholders in the near future.

45.Ms. Holm (Denmark) said that Denmark was party to a large number of international human rights instruments, to which it maintained only a small number of reservations. Those reservations had been thoroughly assessed prior to adoption and remained relevant; however, the Government of Denmark remained willing to consider their withdrawal or amendment. The reservation to article 14 of the Covenant had been narrowed. Domestic legislation complied with the international human rights obligations of Denmark. The Ministry of Justice had issued guidelines, under which the international human rights instruments to which Denmark was party must be taken into account when drafting new laws, and, in 2015, had informed all government ministries that bills involving essential human rights considerations must clearly reflect that fact.

46.Ms. Horneman (Denmark) said that the Independent Police Complaints Authority had been established in 2012. Its mandate was to look into complaints of excessive use of force and other abuses of power by the police during the course of their duties, and particularly to investigate cases of death or serious injury during a police investigation or in police custody. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the Independent Police Complaints Authority was being carried out by the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen and was due to be completed by early 2017.

47.The police had compiled a set of guidelines on the handling of cases of domestic violence, while guidelines had also been issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, setting forth the obligations of police and prosecutors to instruct victims on access to justice and legal representation. Each police district was free to organize its own efforts in that regard, on the basis of the specific situations they had to deal with, but both sets of guidelines were available to all police districts, thus adequately ensuring consistent and effective practice across the country. Furthermore, police were receiving training in the use of an evidence-based risk assessment tool on domestic violence. Apart from cases of spousal assault the tool could also be used in cases of stalking and honour-related crimes.

48.Ms. Jensen (Denmark) said that the definition of terrorism in section 114 of the Danish Criminal Code was consistent with the country’s international obligations.

49.Mr. Aagaard (Denmark) said that a committee had been formed in 2015 to evaluate counter-terrorism legislation of 2002 and 2006. Although that committee had since been discontinued, Denmark remained keen to strike the appropriate balance between effective counter-terrorism initiatives and the rule of law. A number of such initiatives had been launched since the attack in Copenhagen in 2015. Once the effect of those initiatives could be assessed, the Government intended to launch a review of the legal framework of its counter-terrorism policies. It was expected that the review would take place within the next two years. Under new legislation regulating efforts against recruitment to armed conflicts abroad the police could revoke or refuse to issue a passport, or impose a travel ban, if they had grounds to believe that the person concerned intended to participate in activities harmful to State security or public order. Decisions made by the police in that regard could be challenged before the courts.

50.Mr. Jensen (Denmark), replying to the question that had been asked about the Danish-Moroccan dual national who had been stripped of his citizenship, said that the person concerned was currently serving a 4-year prison sentence for offences under the Criminal Code. The authorities had not yet decided how to proceed after his release.

51.Ms. Horneman (Denmark) said that police surveillance and the interception of communications could only be carried out on the basis of a specific court order. The order was valid for a maximum of four weeks, renewable in four-weekly increments. If for operational reasons the police were obliged to proceed with an interception without a court order they had to apply for one within 24 hours. Any evidence gathered outside that legal framework was inadmissible and those responsible could face criminal charges.

52.Ms. Saugmann-Jensen (Denmark) said that Europe was facing its biggest refugee and migration crisis since the end of the Second World War. Denmark was willing to shoulder its part of what was a joint responsibility among all European States and it had welcomed significant numbers of asylum seekers. However, the extraordinary situation meant that it was right and reasonable to introduce measures at the national level and a number of initiatives had been launched to reduce the influx of asylum seekers and refugees and to improve the chances of successful integration. The Government had studied those initiatives in the light of the country’s international obligations, including those under the Covenant, and found them to be compliant.

53.Recent amendments to the Aliens Act had introduced a new temporary protected status for asylum seekers from countries beset by violence of such intensity that anyone returned there risked death or torture. For the first three years, persons with temporary protected status were granted annual residence permits. An assessment would take place at the end of each year to determine whether such persons still required protection, also in light of developments in their country of origin. During those three years, such persons would not be able to obtain family reunification. Family reunification could be granted prior to the renewal of a residence permit if so required under the international obligations of Denmark. The amendments were not applicable to persons granted residency under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or to persons who risked death or torture due to individual circumstances.

54.The Government had taken careful note of the Committee’s Views in relation to communication No. 2001/2010, Q . v. Denmark, and was consulting with parliament in that regard. There were currently two cases against Denmark before the European Court of Human Rights, which was due to rule whether decisions taken by the parliamentary Naturalization Committee were in line with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Government expected those cases to be concluded in 2016 and had informed parliament that it would take no action in relation to regard to Q . v. Denmark until the European Court of Human Rights had delivered its verdict.

55.Mr. Glynstrup (Denmark) said that all asylum seekers were offered medical screening on their arrival and had access to health-care personnel throughout the asylum process. If an asylum seeker invoked torture as a reason for asylum, the Immigration Service could order a specific medical examination, depending on the individual circumstances and taking account of the asylum seeker’s credibility and general background information about his or her country of origin. The Refugee Appeals Board could also order an examination for signs of torture. Cases of foreign nationals expelled from the country for security reasons automatically came before the courts, which had to rule on both the expulsion decision and the risk assessment. Risk assessment evidence which, for security reasons, could not be presented to the foreign national was heard in closed court session. The foreign national was given access to a lawyer, paid by public funds, and the lawyer could access the confidential evidence. The foreign national was, then, in a position to give effective and adequate instructions to his or her legal counsel.

56.Ms. Zeuner (Denmark) said that, in cases of domestic violence, the immigration authorities assessed all relevant information to determine whether the victim was a spouse who had received a residence permit on the basis of marriage. In such a case, it was incumbent upon the victim of the domestic violence to provide evidence — in the form of a police report or hospital record — that domestic violence had been the reason for the end of the cohabitation.

57.Mr. Spies (Denmark) said that employment rates for non-Western immigrants stood at 55 per cent for men and 46 per cent for women. For descendants of non-Western immigrants the figures were 67 per cent for men and 62 per cent for women. The Government was taking action to improve employment and integration prospects for newcomers of both genders by, inter alia, providing education programmes and paid internships for newcomers, with a view to integrating them into the labour market, and offering financial incentives for municipalities and companies which supported and employed refugees. New legislation on integration benefits had been introduced in 2015. It reduced benefit payments by up to 50 per cent but total public benefits remained higher than in most other countries in the world. The aim of the new law — which applied equally to newly arrived foreigners and Danish citizens who had not been resident in Denmark for a number of years — was to increase the incentive to work. In any case, all foreign nationals with a residence permit could make full use of the country’s free education and health-care systems.

58.Ms. Appel (Denmark) said that one of the steps taken to monitor gender mainstreaming had been the creation of a new gender equality index for State and local authorities. Biennial gender equality reports produced by the municipalities provided a good overview of how equal opportunity issues were addressed at the local level and helped to identify areas where improvements could be made. They were also a good way for municipalities to share experiences about how they integrated a gender perspective into their daily work. The Ministry of Children, Education and Gender Equality was highlighting the positive outcome of that process on its own website and at meetings with other ministries. The Ministry was also instituting other initiatives to enhance gender equality, particularly in welfare services at the municipal level, and it was funding gender equality projects in areas such as employment, health care and education. It was also helping other ministries to fulfil their obligation to assess the gender impact of new legislation. Most bills before parliament the previous year had been tested for gender equality.

59.Private companies were required to include information about the number of women in management positions in their annual financial statement. A recent business survey had shown that 79 per cent of companies had set gender equality target figures for senior positions. A further 7 per cent did not have target figures due to an existing situation of equality. Another survey would be carried out in 2016 after which the rules governing women in managerial positons would be evaluated. According to 2014 statistics, the percentage of women in the labour market stood at 69.8 per cent, as compared with 73.5 per cent for men.

60.Mr. Christoffersen (Denmark) said that the means and procedures used by the Defence Intelligence Service to collect intelligence overseas were classified. Nonetheless, the activities of the Service were monitored by the Intelligence Oversight Board, an independent body which published an annual report, and were subject to scrutiny by the parliamentary Intelligence Services Committee.

61.The Chair said that he wished to point out that the European Court of Human Rights applied the European Convention on Human Rights but had no mandate to interpret the Covenant, just as the Committee applied the Covenant but had no mandate to interpret or apply the European Convention on Human Rights. States had to take account of the findings of the two institutions, each in its separate sphere.

The meeting rose at 6 p.m.