The ruling, which effectively ratifies an agreement brokered by the former attorney general, Dominic Grieve, will help to take some of the sting out of the highly charged political debate in Britain over human rights law.
What influence does the legislature actually have over America's foreign affairs?Under the constitution Congress declares war, ratifies treaties and has the power of the purse.
The French, mindful of British Euroscepticism, are taking care not to push Europe's nascent defence project too hard before Britain ratifies the Lisbon treaty this summer.
When parliament ratifies the new treaty, probably next year, Mr Sarkozy hopes to deploy the removal of this clause to disarm rejectionists.A second answer, however, has more to do with conviction than tactics.
And they are worried about smoking?"As soon as parliament ratifies the cabinet-imposed ban, Iraqi smokers will be forced to loiter on street corners exposed to car bombs and 45-degree heat in the summer.
To address such concerns, America generally ratifies human-rights pacts with the condition that they will not overrule existing laws.
The early answer, repeated many times since, was no: powers that the constitution assigns to Congress cannot be given away to others, except by constitutional amendment or by Congress's own say-so; and even when Congress ratifies a treaty, it can continually override its operations by, for example, refusing to provide any money.
In theory, the 19-member ICANN board only ratifies the consensus, takes care of administration and makes sure that its decisions are implemented, for example, by signing contracts with domain-name registrars.
The House of Representatives ratifies all laws and examines and approves the national budget.
The Executive Committee runs the party's day-to-day business, ratifies party candidates, and oversees electoral campaigns.
It passes and amends laws, ratifies treaties, levies taxes, and retains the power to pass a motion of no confidence in the Council of Ministers or the prime minister, thereby compelling the resignation of the council.
