Years of meetings have taken place between unelected, unaccountable and largely unknown bureaucrats to negotiate two World Health Organisation instruments.
These being the proposed package of targeted amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) and the new “WHO Pandemic Agreement” both of which are scheduled to be voted upon at the 77th World Health Assembly beginning on 27th May in Geneva. To adopt them would be unlawful: we thought that the Members of the House of Lords should be informed…
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Dear Members of the House of Lords,
We are aware that Members of the House of Lords have a number of different titles with different ways to address them, however, due to the time-sensitive and material nature of our communication, we have not been able to send individually addressed emails. We apologies for the same and trust that the contents of this email will justify our approach.
Breach of Article 55.2
Further to the debate “International Health Regulations: Amendments” in the House of Lords on Tuesday 7th May 2024, we would like to draw your attention to a letter on the subject of Article 55.2 that was sent to numerous MPs in February 2024. We have attached that letter to this email.
The debate was to ask for an assessment as to whether the amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (the IHR), to be voted on at the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA77) in May 2024, “may” contravene Article 55 of those Regulations.
The attached letter (which can be found here) sets out in detail as to why there should be no doubt that Article 55.2 IHR has been breached but, for ease of reference, we reiterate that Article 55.2 IHR provides
“The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to all State Parties by the Director-General at least four months before the Health Assembly at which it is proposed for consideration.”
The statement by Lord Markham that the “Government are satisfied” that the conditions of Article 55.2 are met on the basis that the proposed amendments “were communicated to all Member states” in December 2022 is nonsensical.
Since December 2022, the Working Group on amendments to the IHR (WGIHR) has met on the following occasions:
- 20th to 24th February 2023 (WGIHR2);
- 17th to 20th April 2023 (WGIHR3);
- 24th to 28th July 2023 (WGIHR4)
- 2nd to 6th October 2023 (WGIHR5);
- 7th to 8th December 2023 (WGIHR6);
- 23rd February 2024 (joint meeting with the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) (the body mandated to negotiate a new pandemic agreement);
- 5th to 9th February 2024 and resumed on 8th March 2024 (WGIHR7); and
- from 22nd to 26th April 2024 suspended and scheduled to resume on 16th and 17th May 2024 (WGIHR8)
Are we expected to believe that there have been no changes to the proposed package of targeted amendments pursuant to those meetings? Why, if there are no changes, would the Bureau be circulating a revised text by 10th May 2024 (as of today’s date we have been unable to find that text although it may well have been distributed to Member States)?
The statement by Lord Markham does not alter the fact that Article 55.2 has been breached and, consequently, any vote on the proposed amendments at WHA77 is unlawful.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the “IHR Review Committee regarding amendments to the IHR (2005) Terms of Reference” (which can be read here https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/international-health-regulations/terms-of-reference_ihr-amendments-rc_for-web_rev-221024.pdf), in particular paragraph 6 which states:
“…January 2024: WGIHR submits their final package of proposed amendments to the DG who will communicate them to all States Parties in accordance with Article 55.2, for the consideration of the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly.”
The IHR is an international agreement concluded in writing between member states that creates rights and obligations in international law. The situation, under international law, could not be clearer – the deadline for the WGIHR to submit the final package of targeted amendments, in accordance with Article 55.2 IHR, was 27th January 2024.
Neither the WGIHR nor the WHO Secretariat have the authority to arbitrarily change international law. Post 27th January 2024, the WGIHR, in order to lawfully continue negotiations, should have sought a new mandate with the vote on any such proposed package of targeted amendments taking place at the 78th WHA in May 2025. Anything other than this is unlawful.
Implementing Legislation
We should not have to remind you that implementing legislation for the IHR is already in place domestically in the form of (primarily) the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 (the Health and Social Care Act 2008 made changes to the 1984 Act, in particular, by inserting Part 2A into the Act specifically to address the IHR) and The Health Protection Agency (Amendment) Regulations.
Having four (4) months to consider the proposed package of targeted amendments prior to adoption is therefore vital bearing in mind the unique “opt-out” status of adopted IHR amendments which means that, in the absence of the UK Government actively opting out within a ten (10) month time frame, the amendments automatically enter into force and are binding on the people of the UK.
Interconnectedness between the WGIHR and INB
Throughout the WGIHR negotiations, which began in November 2022, we have been repeatedly told that the two instruments: (1) the pandemic agreement negotiated by the INB; and (2) the package of targeted amendments to the IHR negotiated by the WGIHR shall be “coherent and complementary”. There are numerous references to this on the WHO website; a few examples are given below.
Joint newsletter of the INB and WGIHR (July 2023):
“In addition, Member States will be invited to provide views on how to address topics of common interest towards coherence and complementarity between the two instruments.” (https://inb.who.int/docs/librariesprovider13/default-document-library/newsletter-of-the-inb-and-wgihr-bureaux-july-2023.pdf)
Report of the second meeting of the WGIHR:
“7. With respect to coordination with the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), the Co-Chairs explained that ensuring the complementarity of the Working Group and the INB is a priority for both Bureaus. … It was reiterated that both Bureaus agree that coordination involves substantive discussions on a range of cross-cutting issues to ensure alignment and consistency and avoid unnecessary duplication and overlap. It was noted that a single team from the WHO Secretariat is supporting both Bureaus in delivering their mandates.” (https://apps.who.int/gb/wgihr/pdf_files/wgihr2/A_WGIHR2_10-en.pdf)
Report of the fourth meeting of the WGIHR:
“5. …they reported that the INB and WGIHR Bureaus had met four times since the third meeting of the WGIHR, with key topics of discussion including the list of topics of common interest to both processes and preparations for the joint INB and WGIHR plenary meeting held on 21 and 24 July 2023. (https://apps.who.int/gb/wgihr/pdf_files/wgihr4/A_WGIHR4_5-en.pdf)
Report of the sixth meeting of the WGIHR:
“4. It was clear from the discussions of the two Bureaus that a coordinated approach would be needed to ensure financing is properly reflected across the two processes.” (https://apps.who.int/gb/wgihr/pdf_files/wgihr6/A_WGIHR6_3-en.pdf)
Report of the seventh meeting of the WGIHR:
“4. …the WGIHR and INB Bureaus will continue to work closely to progress in these matters and other matters of common interest to ensure coherence and complementarity.” (https://apps.who.int/gb/wgihr/pdf_files/wgihr7/A_WGIHR7_7-en.pdf)
In Conclusion
As a consequence of the “complimentary” nature of the IHR amendments and the pandemic treaty, the processes of the WGIHR and the INB cannot be de-coupled as they are dependent upon each other. The WGIHR has missed the four-month deadline pursuant to Article 55.2, therefore a resolution for adoption of the package of targeted amendments cannot be lawfully made. Consequently, both the WGIHR and the INB must seek, respectively, renewed mandates prior to further negotiations.
We look forward to your response and to the UK Government advising the WHO of the aforementioned breach and withdrawing from negotiations of both instruments until such time as renewed mandates have been agreed.
Yours faithfully,
UK Citizen
