Parliamentary work will play a vital role in getting governments to sign and ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Ratification often requires action to be taken by the State’s parliament and/or its executive to approve adherence to the Convention at the national level. In some instances national legislation banning cluster munitions will also need to be drafted and passed by the parliament. In this instance parliamentarians will play a particularly important role, both in shaping the content of the law and ensuring that legislation is as comprehensive as possible and passes through parliament as quickly as possible.
Beyond this parliamentarians can also work to encourage their governments to implement the treaty and should monitor their governments’ compliance.
TAKE ACTION
Write to your MP to urge her or him to encourage the government to sign and ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Here are some template letters you can adapt. The more you personalise these letters the more impact they will have. Introduce yourself and why you are motivated to write. Handwritten letters often have more impact. If you can include a relevant newsclipping from a newspaper that will have even more impact.
Letter to MPs - for states that have signed the Convention
Letter to MPs - for states that have NOT signed the Convention
RESOURCES
How to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions (Français , Español)
How to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions
CMC Briefing Paper on the Convention on Cluster Munition
This paper provides an overview of the Convention and its obligations
ICRC Ratification Toolkit (Français , Español)
This document contains information on the procedures that most states will have to follow in order to ratify or accede to the Convention. In addition it also contains a model “instrument of ratification” to the Convention that needs to be submitted to the UN Treaty Section at the Office of Legal Affairs.
ICRC Model Law on the Convention on Cluster Munitions
This is a piece of model legislation for States that use the Common Law legal system.
NATIONAL LEGISLATION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS
Parliamentary involvement in the ratification process is crucial. Ratification requires states to adhere to the Convention at the national level, in accordance with that State’s specific domestic procedures for becoming party to international agreements. Typically this requires action by the state’s parliament and/or its executive, but for some states (those that use the Common Law legal system) parliament will also need to approve national legislation on cluster munitions to enable them to ratify. In addition all states should develop specific national legislation to implement the Convention but this is not needed in order to ratify and in many countries this is developed after a country has ratified.
To date eight countries have passed national legislation banning cluster munitions: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Norway.
Austrian National Legislation
German National Legislation
Irish National Legislation
Luxembourg’s National Legislation
New Zealand’s Legislation
Norwegian National Legislation
To find out more information on the specific legislative processes click here.
PARLIAMENTARY ACTION ON CLUSTER MUNITIONS
International Parliamentary Forums
A number of international parliamentary forums have been held in conjunction with Oslo Process conferences. These events have proved extremely valuable. They have allowed parliamentarians to engage with their counterparts from around the world who are also working to promote a ban on cluster bombs in their national contexts. These forums have also helped pressure governments both at Oslo Process Conferences through their participation and engagement with their government delegations, as well as by their action at home to monitor national positions, open up discussions and ask questions in parliament.
Past events
21 February 2007 - Oslo International Parliamentary Forum
22 May 2007 - Lima Civil Society Forum
4 December 2007 - Vienna International Parliamentary Forum
20 February 2008 - Petition handover to New Zealand Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control
27 May 2008 - Dublin International Parliamentary Forum
30 September 2008 - Kampala International Parliamentary Forum
2 December 2008 - Oslo International Parliamentary Forum
5-10 April 2009 - Addis Ababa, IPU Annual Assembly
27 April 2009 - London, IPU Regional meeting of the 12 Plus Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
17-18 May 2009 - Kuwait, IPU Regional meeting of the Arab Group on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
23 May 2009 - Oslo, NATO Parliamentary Assembly Defence & Security Committee meeting
29 June-3 July 2009 - Vilnius, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Annual Assembly
PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDS OF THE CMC
The work of parliamentarians is crucial to the success of the Oslo Process. Their engagement and collaboration with civil society helped ensure widespread political support for the comprehensive treaty that was adopted in Dublin in May 2008. This involvement will remain key during this next stage, where the focus of work will be on ensuring governments both ratify the Convention in domestic law and work to implement and promote it internationally.
As a result of discussions at these international parliamentary forums a network, the Parliamentary Friends of the CMC, was set up to facilitate the continued exchange of information between parliamentarians working to promote the CCM in their national contexts. Monthly updates are sent out to parliamentarians, summarizing actions that have been undertaken to promote universalisation of the Convention.
If you are a parliamentarian and would like to receive these updates please contact Kimberly Brown at kimberly@stopclustermunitions.org