Work of the ad hoc committee on legal co-operation

Recommendation 374 (1963)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 20th September 1963 (13th Sitting) (see Doc. 1651Doc. 1651, report of the Legal Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 20th September 1963 (13th Sitting).

The Assembly,

Recalling its Recommendation 326 relating to the expanded legal programme of the Council of Europe ;

Having regard to Resolution No. 9 adopted by the European Ministers of Justice at their 2nd Conference held in Rome from 5th-7th October 1962, and relating to the programme of future action of the Council of Europe in the legal field ;

Having regard to Resolution (62) 41 adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 17th December 1962 and relating to the legal programme of the Council of Europe ;

Congratulating the ad hoc Committee on Legal Co-operation, set up by the said Resolution (62) 41, on the work it has accomplished ;

Considering that the work already done by the ad hoc Committee on Legal Cooperation shows clearly the necessity to establish, within the framework of the Council of Europe and in each member State, an organic structure which would permit the implementation and further development of the legal programme (other than in penal law, criminology and human rights);

After having considered the report of Its Legal Committee (Doc. 1651).

Recommends to the Committee of Ministers :

I

1. To take steps to set up within the framework of the Council of Europe a European Committee on Legal Co-operation and instruct it to develop and to implement the legal programme of the Council of Europe ;

2. To confer on the European Committee on Legal Co-operation a mandate which would permit this Committee to function as the governing and co-ordinating organ in respect of the legal work of the Council of Europe ;

3. To allocate to this Committee a yearly budget and to authorise it to dispose of this budget at its own discretion in order to enable it to fulfil its tasks adequately ;

4. To place the existing Committees of Legal Experts (national digests, foreign money obligations, arbitration, consular convention, legal persons) and those to be created in the future, as a result of the expanded legal programme, under the authority of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation ;

5. To lay down that this Committee shall be composed of :

a One delegation of each of the Governments of member States, composed of high-ranking officials ;

b Three representatives of the Assembly, appointed in accordance with the Rules laid down by the latter ;

6. To lay down that :

a The decisions of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation shall be taken at a two-thirds majority of the votes cast ;

b The governmental delegations and the delegation of the Assembly shall each have one vote ;

II

7. To recommend to member Governments that they should establish between themselves a system of exchange of information on legislative projects, in accordance with the rules agreed by the ad hoc Committee on Legal Co-operation or to be agreed subsequently by the European Committee on Legal Co-operation ; such a system, which should function through the European Committee on Legal Co-operation, would bring out the legislative tendencies in member States of the Council of Europe and would thus enable the European Committee to propose the adoption of uniform measures between States ;

8. To recommend also to member Governments that they should establish a system of exchange of information on judicial decisions relating to Conventions of the Council of Europe and to uniform laws elaborated under its auspices ; this would facilitate the uniform interpretation of legislative texts of a European character ;

9. For this purpose, to recommend to member Governments that they should create, within the framework of their national administrations, a liaison section whose task it would be :

a To collect the relevant documentation on legislative projects which are being elaborated and which might interest other member States ; such documentation would be transmitted, through the intermediary of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation, to the liaison sections of the other member States ;

b To receive the documentation on legislative projects addressed to it by other liaison sections and to communicate it to the interested national authorities ;

c To collect also the decisions of national tribunals relating to Conventions of the Council of Europe and to uniform laws elaborated under the latter's auspices and to communicate these to the European Committee on Legal Co-operation for circulation ;

10. To invite member States to notify the Secretariat of the Council of Europe of the location of these liaison sections in order to permit the establishment, within the framework of the European Committee on Legal co-operation, of a system of direct communication between these liaison sections ;

III

11. To communicate this Recommendation to the ad hoc Committee on Legal Cooperation and to request it to make a detailed examination of the Assembly's proposals contained in it before it terminates its work.