Logo Assembly Logo Hemicycle

Mr Damien COTTIER (Switzerland, ALDE)

Mandates

In the political groups

  • Member: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe since 27/01/2020

In the Assembly

  • since 24/01/2022 Representative - Switzerland
  • from 27/01/2020 to 24/01/2022 Substitute - Switzerland

In the committee(s) and sub-committee(s)

  • Full Member: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (since 19/06/2023)
  • Chairperson: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (since 25/01/2022)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Bureau of the Assembly (since 25/01/2022)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Standing Committee (since 25/01/2022)
  • Ex officio (Rule 44.1 of the Rules of Procedure): Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (since 25/01/2022)
  • Ex officio (Rule 44.1 of the Rules of Procedure): Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (since 25/01/2022)
  • Chairperson of national delegation: Standing Committee (since 24/01/2022)
  • First Vice-Chairperson: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (from 28/09/2021 to 23/01/2022)
  • Member: Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs (since 25/01/2021)
  • Member: Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (since 26/06/2020)
  • Full Member: Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons (from 27/01/2020 to 24/04/2022)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Democracy (since 22/06/2023)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People (from 27/04/2022 to 18/06/2023)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (since 26/01/2022)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on Human Rights (since 24/01/2022)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (since 24/01/2022)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Sub-Committee on Conflicts concerning Council of Europe Member States (since 24/01/2022)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (since 22/03/2021)
  • Vice-Chairperson: Sub-Committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People (from 12/03/2021 to 27/09/2021)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People (from 30/01/2020 to 24/04/2022)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (from 28/01/2020 to 24/01/2021)
  • Alternate of Mr Hannes GERMANN (Full Member): Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (since 27/01/2020)
  • Alternate of Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ (Full Member): Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons (from 25/04/2022 to 18/06/2023)
  • Alternate of Mr Hannes GERMANN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (since 22/03/2021)
  • Alternate of Ms Marianne MARET (Full Member): Sub-Committee on External Relations (since 22/06/2023)
  • Alternate of Mr Hannes GERMANN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (from 11/09/2020 to 24/01/2021)
  • Alternate of Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ (Full Member): Sub-Committee on Diasporas and Integration (from 26/01/2021 to 18/06/2023)
  • Alternate of Mr Charles JUILLARD (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (from 28/01/2020 to 10/09/2020)

Interventions

Last speeches

13/10/2023 | 10:54:28 Thank you, Madam President. "A thing is not just because it is law, but it must be law because it is just" (Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu). I wanted to start with this quote, because that's what we're talking about today. The rapporteur put it extremely well. It's about the separation of powers, checks and balances. Mr Pieter OMTZIGT's report is based on serious work. Firstly, that of the Venice Commission, to which the Committee asked for an opinion, and then within the... 11/10/2023 | 18:23:54 We are truly at the heart of our Organization's activity, namely the defense of fundamental rights and freedoms, and this is the essential role of the Council of Europe. During the preparation of this Report, the Committee held two hearings: one in Bern in 2022 with an expert from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and an MEP who is a member of the PEGA Committee; and another hearing in Paris in December last year with three targeted victims of Pegasus or... 11/10/2023 | 15:56:15 Thank you, Mister Chairman. Humanity had learned important lessons from the terrible conflicts of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The Council of Europe is a powerful witness to this. In the 21st century, these lessons seem to be fading from our memories and our hearts. In Ukraine, alas; in Nagorno-Karabakh, alas; in northern Kosovo, alas. Three crises in our Assembly, debates also this week. And in Israel, alas. What's happening there is shattering our hearts and minds. Terrorist attacks by... 09/10/2023 | 15:48:10 Thank you, Mr Chairman. I would like to thank the rapporteurs for their reports. This activity report shows the importance of the work carried out by this Organisation and by this Assembly. For my part, I have had the honour of chairing the Legal Affairs Committee for almost two years now, and its reports at each part-session basically underline the importance of the Council of Europe's conventions, of the entire legal framework on which this Organisation is based, with reports that are... 21/06/2023 | 19:56:26 Yes, that's right, Madam President, thank you. Madam Chair, The Committee has given its unanimous support to the rapporteur's precise and balanced work. As we have seen today, the issues dealt with in this report are the subject of lively discussion in the United Kingdom, which we know to be an ancient, vibrant and exemplary democracy. These discussions relate as much to the draft Charter of Fundamental Rights, which it seems may not be adopted, as to the Illegal Immigration Bill. It is...

Activities