The government should scrap its reservations against the United Nations Disability Rights Convention, an influential parliamentary committee has said.

The joint select committee on human rights says it is “particularly concerned” at exemptions being sought by the Ministry of Defence and Home Office.

The Disability Rights Convention, adopted by the UN general assembly three years ago, is yet to be ratified by most of western Europe, while the US is not even a member.

According to the committee, the exemption being sought by the army seeks “to remove a major public authority entirely from a basic provision on non-discrimination in access to employment” is open to challenge.

It considers that in a reservation on immigration and nationality the Home Office is unnecessarily seeking “catch-all” protection against the full application of the rights recognised by the convention.

“If the government cannot be persuaded over the reservations, ratification should take priority over lengthy and futile discussions which would only serve to delay the participation of the United Kingdom in this important international agreement,” today’s report says.

In further comment, committee chair Andrew Dismore said that “when a country ratifies a new human rights treaty it is both a strong signal of its ideals and commitment in that area, but also a chance to audit national law and policy, and remove any incompatibility with the rights it is seeking to guarantee by signing the treaty”.

“It should not be an opportunity for various departments to make a shopping list of policies and practices they wish to keep unchanged against the spirit and letter of the convention. The starting point should be that there as few as possible, and preferably no, reservations to a treaty,” Mr Dismore continued.

“In our experience once a reservation is in place, it tends to stay there even when the UN monitoring bodies, parliamentary committees and civil society organisations are united in the view that it’s unnecessary and goes against the object and purpose of the treaty. We recommend that the government commit itself to making the legislative and other changes necessary to instead withdraw the reservations to the Disability Rights Convention as soon as is practicable.”

Ahead of the expected ratification of the convention this spring, the committee is also warning that parliamentary scrutiny of international treaties as it stands in inadequate and not a sufficient substitute for direct consultation with disabled people.

“Those that the government does wish to put forward it should justify, properly consult on with the people who will be affected, and have a full opportunity for discussion and scrutiny in parliament,” Mr Dismore said. “That is not happening.”