The Bureau took note of the letter by the Committee on the election of judges which had considered the list of the three candidates to the post of judge to the Court in respect of Azerbaijan. The Committee recommended unanimously that the list be rejected. This position requires endorsement by the Assembly (Appendix 1).
The Bureau decided, subject to confirmation of the date and receipt of an invitation, to observe these early parliamentary elections. It constituted for this purpose an ad hoc committee composed of 20 members (EPP/CD: 8; SOC: 7, ALDE: 2, EC: 2, UEL: 1 – in accordance with the d’Hondt system) and the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee. It also authorised a pre-electoral mission.
The Bureau considered and approved the following references to committees:
The Bureau approved the terms of reference of the General Rapporteur on media freedom and safety of journalists (Appendix 2).
On the basis of a proposal by the EPP/CD Group, the Bureau appointed Ms Inese Lībiņa-Egnere (Latvia), Mr Aleksander Pociej (Poland), Mr Alja Šircelj (Slovenia) and Ms Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter (Switzerland).
On the basis of a proposal by the EPP/CD Group, the Bureau appointed Mr Vladyslav Golub (Ukraine) to replace Mr Volodymyr Ariev (Ukraine).
On the basis of a proposal by the UEL Group, the Bureau appointed Ms Anastasia Christodoulopoulou (Greece) to replace Mr Ögmondur Jónasson (Iceland).
On the basis of a proposal by the EPP/CD Group, the Bureau appointed Mr Konstantinos Tzavaras (Greece), Mr Aleksander Pociej (Poland) and Mr Alja Šircelj (Slovenia) as alternates to vacant seats.
On the basis of a proposal by the UEL Group, the Bureau appointed Mr Konstantinos Douzinas (Greece) as alternate to replace Mr Tiny Kox (Netherlands).
The Assembly is invited to ratify these Bureau decisions.
Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights
The Chairperson
Strasbourg, 27 January 2016
Dear President,
Re: list of three candidates submitted to the Assembly by the Government of Azerbaijan (Doc. 13948)
At its meeting today, the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights assessed the qualifications of the persons on the said list.
In conformity with the provisions of Resolution 1366 (2004), as modified by Resolutions 1426 (2005), 1627 (2008), 1841 (2011) and 2002 (2014) the Committee recommends, unanimously, that the list be rejected by the Assembly and that the Government of Azerbaijan be requested to submit a new list of candidates. In so recommending it notes, in particular, that one of the candidates on the list had already been considered, by the Assembly, as not sufficiently well-qualified in the previous list submitted to it by the Government of Azerbaijan (see Doc. 13813 Addendum II; list rejected by the Assembly on 22 June 2015).
I would be grateful if this recommendation were brought to the attention of the Assembly in the Bureau’s forthcoming Progress Report.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Cilevičs
Mr Pedro Agramunt
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Denomination: General Rapporteur on Media Freedom and Safety of Journalists
Term of office: one year renewable, subject to a maximum of two years.
Subject: the General Rapporteur should deal with serious violations of media freedom and the safety of journalists in Europe.
The General Rapporteur should: