Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to ratify the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence.

The Coalition Government signed the Istanbul Convention on 8 June 2012 signalling its strong commitment on tackling violence against women and girls.

The UK already has some of the most robust protections in the world against violence towards women and we already comply with the vast majority of the articles to the convention. Primary legislation will be needed to comply with the extra-territorial jurisdiction provisions in Article 44 of the Convention before it can be ratified.

Ministers are currently considering the extent to which we need to amend the criminal law of England and Wales for compliance with Article 44 prior to ratification of the Convention. Any changes necessary to the criminal law in Scotland and Northern Ireland prior to ratification are matters for the devolved administrations.