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Mr Damien COTTIER (Switzerland, ALDE)

Mandates

In the political groups

  • Treasurer: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe since 22/01/2024
  • Member: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 27/01/2020 to 21/01/2024

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)

  • Alternate ALDE: Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (since 22/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (since 19/06/2023)
  • Chairperson: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Standing Committee (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • 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) (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio (Rule 44.1 of the Rules of Procedure): Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of national delegation: Standing Committee (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Bureau of the Assembly (from 21/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • First Vice-Chairperson: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (from 28/09/2021 to 23/01/2022)
  • Member: (Former) Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs (from 25/01/2021 to 26/01/2025)
  • 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)
  • Chairperson: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (since 25/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Democracy (from 22/06/2023 to 31/12/2023)
  • 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 (from 26/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on Human Rights (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Sub-Committee on Conflicts concerning Council of Europe Member States (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • 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 Ms Sibel ARSLAN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on External Relations (since 25/01/2024)
  • Alternate of Mr Alfred HEER (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the Middle East and the Arab World (since 25/01/2024)
  • 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 (from 22/06/2023 to 21/01/2024)
  • 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

25/06/2025 | 19:59:59 Thank you, President. Turning to the subject of this debate, Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, our rapporteur, is accustomed to delivering excellent reports, and I must say that this one is no exception. I would really like to thank him for the quality of his reflections. The modernisation of the 2005 Warsaw Convention was clearly necessary. New definitions were needed, particularly for acts such as cyberterrorism or environmental terrorism. And the fight against terrorism is absolutely essential to... 25/06/2025 | 16:24:41 Thank you, President. In 1864, the States gathered in Geneva wanted to bring a little humanity into the heart of war. This was the first Geneva Convention. In 1949, the new Conventions broadened the humanitarian field, protecting civilian populations and humanitarian workers in particular. The Geneva Conventions are universal in scope. They apply to everyone, State or armed group. They are the foundation of our common humanity, especially in the most difficult of times. The ALDE Group makes a... 24/06/2025 | 16:37:32 Thank you, Mister Chairman, This is an important week. More than three years ago, our Assembly was the first international organisation to call for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. We know that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed on Ukrainian territory as a result of aggression by the Russian Federation. These crimes can be judged, as they fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and this work must be carried out... 24/06/2025 | 10:48:31 Thank you, President. First of all, thank you for this debate. The European Court of Human Rights is indeed an indispensable instrument for guaranteeing democracy and human rights on our continent, and for this architecture as it was created after the Second World War. Therefore, to call into question on principle the independence or impartiality of the Court is something we cannot accept. And it is the role of this Assembly to debate it and to defend the Court in its role, to defend the... 29/01/2025 | 11:28:47 Thank you, Madam Chairman. This is an important debate, and its context makes it all the more important. I'd like to thank the rapporteur for the work she has done and for putting this topic on the agenda of our Assembly once again, because our Assembly has already addressed these issues, but it's important to return to them regularly in a historical context where this debate takes on a very special dimension. I'm fortunate enough to have trained as a historian and, I must say, it's striking...

Activities