08/06/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On 8 June the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights held a parliamentary hearing in Berlin on the concept of “nation” in the framework of a report on the subject being prepared by György Frunda (Romania, EPP/CD). The day before, the committee is due to hold an exchange of views with German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries in the framework of a report on cross-border crime in Europe.
28/05/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
"Human rights apply to rich as well as poor – everyone is equal before the law," said Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, LDR), speaking at the end of a three-day fact-finding visit to Moscow to investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of Yukos executives. "Everyone is entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, or acquitted in a fair trial," she added. Though unable to meet any of the three detained executives in prison, she met prosecution and defence lawyers, Justice Ministry officials and human rights activists. Her report is due before the autumn.
24/05/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, LDR), who is preparing a report on "the circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives" for the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee, visits Moscow from 24 to 27 May. She has asked to meet the three detained executives, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and Alexei Pichugin, as well as the president of the district court which has been dealing with their cases, the Justice Minister and General Prosecutor. She will give a press conference at 11.30 a.m. on Thursday 27 May at Interfax.
29/04/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A draft Assembly report approved today welcomes the “significant progress” made by Turkey in implementing decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, including payment in the Loizidou case, but cautions that some of the cases outstanding are still not settled or only partly so. In the draft report, which will be debated by the parliamentarians soon, the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee urged Turkey to take eight further steps, including ensuring fair new trials in the cases of Sadak, Zana, Dogan and Dicle.
23/04/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A proposal to allow the European Court of Human Rights to declare inadmissible cases where “the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage” is unacceptable, the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee declared on Wednesday. Giving its opinion on a package of reforms aimed at streamlining the Court, the committee said the proposed new admissibility criterion was “vague, subjective and liable to do the applicant a serious injustice” and should be replaced with a reference to respect for human rights. The Assembly is due to debate the reforms – when it adopts its opinion on draft protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights – on Wednesday 28 April at 3p.m.
16/04/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights is due to finalise on 21 April its opinion on draft protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which amends the control system of the convention to enable the Court to cope with a massively increased workload. The draft protocol proposes the creation of more judges, allowing single judges to declare inadmissible or strike out cases, and extending the term of office of judges to a single, non-renewable nine-year term as well as allowing the Court to declare inadmissible any application where “the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage”. Also on the agenda are the committee’s latest moves to promote abolition of the death penalty in the United States, a Council of Europe observer state.
02/04/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Assembly’s Sub-Committee on the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights held interviews with candidates for judge in respect of Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Portugal and Sweden. Based on the interviews and assessments of CVs, the sub-committee will make recommendations to assist the Assembly in its task of electing each judge to the Court from a list of three candidates submitted by the Contracting State concerned. New elections, due to take place during the Assembly’s April session, are necessary since the six-year term of office of half the judges in the Court comes to an end in November 2004
12/03/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Assembly Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights held a hearing on the human rights situation in Kosovo in Paris on 16 March. The discussion focused on three themes: political authority and current institutional structures, human rights protection mechanisms and implementation of Council of Europe standards. The hearing will contribute to a report by Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), who should propose ways of making application of the European Convention on Human Rights more effective in Kosovo.
10/03/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights is to hold a hearing on the human rights situation in Kosovo in Paris (Council of Europe Office, 55 avenue Kléber) on Tuesday 16 March 2004. The hearing will be opened at 9am by the first Vice-Chairperson of the committee, Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR). Participants will include Bajram Rexhepi, Prime Minister of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) of Kosovo; Marek Antoni Nowicki, Ombudsperson; Petr Ivantsov, Political Director of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK); Carsten Weber, Director of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the OSCE Mission (OMIK), and Alvaro Gil-Robles, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
10/03/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
At a joint press conference in Strasbourg on 10 March, Michel Hunault (France, EPP/CD), rapporteur for the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly on the situation of European prisons and pre-trial detention centres, and Maurizio Turco, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the rights of prisoners in the European Union, called for the drawing up of a European Prisons' Charter. This joint initiative by the two institutions will equip Europe with a permanent monitoring system in the judicial and penal field, ensuring supervision of all the players in the judicial and penal system.
09/03/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
On Wednesday 10 March, 11 a.m., Assembly rapporteur Michel Hunault (France, EPP/CD) presented his report on the situation of European prisons and pre-trial centres together with Maurizio Turco, European Parliament rapporteur on the rights of prisoners in the European Union at a joint press conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Louise Weiss Build., room N -1/201). In his report, Mr Hunault stresses that living conditions in many prisons and pre-trial detention centres are incompatible with respect for human dignity.
05/03/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Sub-Committee on the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights held on 8 March in Paris interviews with candidates for judge in respect of Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. Based on the interviews and assessments of CVs, the sub-committee will make confidential recommendations to assist the Assembly, which elects each judge to the Court from a list of three candidates submitted by the Contracting State concerned. The new elections, due to take place during the Assembly’s April session, are necessary since the six-year term of office of half the judges in the Court comes to an end in November 2004.