Research Briefing
ISIS and the sectarian conflict in the Middle East
The radical jihadis of ISIS still control large areas of Iraq and Syria, despite the international campaign against them. But who are they really?
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Research Briefing
Reforming the EU: UK plans, proposals and prospects
Prime Minister David Cameron would like to reform the EU and renegotiate the UK’s relationship with it, before holding an in/out referendum in 2017 if a Conservative government is elected in May 2015. The UK’s new relationship with the EU would be put to the electorate, who would decide whether the UK should remain in the EU under new terms or be the first Member State to leave the EU. This Note looks at what the Government is doing to tackle some of the perceived weaknesses of EU policy and procedures and looks at prospects for future reform.
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Research Briefing
Interception of communications
This Note looks at past and present law, the role of the Interception of Communications Commissioner in overseeing the present regime and recent developments in this area.
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Research Briefing
Sanctions over the Ukraine conflict
The EU announced broad economic sanctions against Russia on 29 July 2014 including restrictions on some Russian banks’ ability to borrow money in EU financial markets, and an arms embargo.
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Research Briefing
The Trident Successor Programme: an update
This briefing paper is now out-of-date and has been replaced by Commons Library Briefing 7353, Replacing the UK's Trident Nuclear Deterrent, 26 October 2015.
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Research Briefing
Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill (HL): Progress of the Bill
The Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill (HL) 2013-14 completed all of its stages in the House of Commons. It will now go to the House of Lords for consideration.
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Research Briefing
Russia and the Council of Europe
What has the Council of Europe done about Russia's poor human rights record or the alleged Russian action in Ukraine?
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Research Briefing
Preparations for the 2015 NPT Review Conference
The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will be held in New York from 27 April to 22 May 2015. This note looks at progress made since the 2010 Conference and outlines the UK Government's position.
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Research Briefing
International Women’s Day 2015: Background and statistics
What are the trends for women's equality in the UK and across the globe? This document provides background statistics for International Women's Day 2015, examining international comparisons and UK-specific data.
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Research Briefing
Ethiopia: DFID ends support for the Promotion of Basic Services Programme
On 26 February 2015, the Department for International Development (DFID) announced that it was reconfiguring important elements of its bilateral aid programme with Ethiopia. A key element of this reconfiguration is ending its support for the ‘Promotion of Basic Services Programme’ (PBS), a large multi-donor programme that also receives support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank. DFID’s announcement is striking in that it makes no reference to the controversy that has surrounded the PBS in recent years. Some have implicated it in the Ethiopian Government's 'villagisation programme', which has allegedly involved forced resettlement and human rights abuses. This briefing seeks to place DFID’s announcement in context.
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Research Briefing
Japan: Abe’s constitutional and security agenda
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (the LDP) won a decisive victory in snap elections held in December 2014. One of the reasons for holding early elections was Abe’s desire to amend Japan’s ‘peace Constitution’ so that in future it expressly permits the country’s armed forces to come to the aid of allies under attack. This is known in Japan as the right of ‘collective self-defence’. In mid- 2014 the Japanese Cabinet approved interpreting the Constitution in this way. Abe is now seeking to give this new interpretation legal and constitutional underpinning. Important as it is, amending Article 9 of the Constitution is just one part of Abe’s plans on the defence and security front. Japan is now looking to enhance its defence capabilities so that it can play a greater role in promoting international “peace, stability and prosperity”. It will also increase its ability to respond effectively to any attack on the Senkaku Islands (as Japan calls them) in the East China Sea.
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Research Briefing
In brief: accession of Palestine to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Palestine has acceded to the Rome Statue - the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court.
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Research Briefing
Religious Slaughter of Animals
Religious slaughter of animals for food without pre-stunning is currently permitted in the UK for Muslim (Halal) and Jewish (Shechita) methods in line with permitted exemptions to EU slaughter regulations which require pre-stunning. In practice, around 80% of halal meat in the UK is from animals that have been pre-stunned. The UK Government has said that it would prefer all animals to be pre-stunned before slaughter on welfare grounds but it observes the rights of religious communities. However, animal welfare groups, including the British Veterinary Association and RSPCA are calling for an end to non-stun slaughter. All parties in the debate would like to see labelling of meat which provides more consumer information on the slaughter methods used.
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Research Briefing
Yemen: back to the brink
As fighters from the Houthi movement have taken over the Yemeni Capital Sanaa, the situation in Yemen appears to be critical again, and the UK government has withdrawn its staff from the embassy there.
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Research Briefing
Prisoners’ voting rights (2005 to May 2015)
Prisoners serving a custodial sentence do not have the right to vote under UK law. Prisoners on remand are able to vote under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act 2000. This Standard Note provides a narrative of events from the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on 6 October 2005, in the case of Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2), to the May 2015 General Election.
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