Parl panel to suggest new system for formulating treaties

New Delhi: A new system for more effective formulation of international treaties, including those on checking black money and promoting investments, is likely to be recommended soon by a Parliamentary panel.

The 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by Congress MP E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, which is looking at the proposal, also favours creation of a new wing - Department of International Law - to ensure that matters related to international treaties and agreements are discussed, formulated and implemented in a better way.

"As plenty of bilateral and multiple treaties on blackmoney and other matters including investments are coming up, there should be a proper system for participation, formulation and implementation of such international agreements," Natchiappan told PTI.

"The system will create a better positioning of India in the international fora," he said.

The Committee has also favoured creation of Department of International Law under the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Ministry will also need to be renamed as Ministry of International Law, Domestic Law and Justice, he said.

The panel also heard submissions by officials of External Affairs, Commerce, Finance and Home ministries, Natchiappan said, adding that representatives of ministries of civil aviation, social justice, labour, and environment and forests will also be called in to give their views soon.

At present, Legal and Treaties division under the Ministry of External Affairs is entrusted with the task of negotiating all political treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries.

"Treaty making has become a highly specialised process which requires knowledge of the various issues on which the treaty is being negotiated. Any single department or body on its own cannot comprehend fully and negotiate effectively various aspects of a treaty and its implications on the country.

"It seems that the Government is sometimes not adequately equipped and prepared to handle such issues in the international fora and thus the interests of the country are sometimes not suitably addressed.

"Thus, a more coordinated, holistic and specialised approach may be needed while negotiating any international treaty or agreement," he said.