27/01/2004 | News
The President of the Assembly announced the results of the election of a judge to the Court of Human Rights with respect to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ljiljana Mijovic was elected with 84 out of 128 cast votes. Zoran Pajic and Ahmed Zilic, scored 9 votes and 35 votes respectively. The term of Ms. Mijovic expires at 31 October, 2010.
27/01/2004 | News
The Assembly´s President will open a colloquy tonight on the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, organised by the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. Speakers from some of the major conflict areas in Europe will be present, including Northern Ireland, Cyprus, the Balkans and the Chechen Republic (Russian Federation). The colloquy will take place from 7 pm to 9 pm in room 8.
27/01/2004 | News
"The Council of Europe insists on strict and unequivocal respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms. We cannot stress strongly enough that anti-terrorist measures which violate human rights and fundamental freedoms will ultimately fail. The bottom line is that we cannot make our humanity secure if our security is not humane", said Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer addressing the Assembly on the subject of the state of the Council of Europe.
27/01/2004 | News
Public service broadcasting is a vital element of democracy in Europe, the Assembly declared today. Yet across the continent, its future is challenged by political and economic interests, by increasing competition from commercial media, by media concentrations and by financial difficulties, the parliamentarians warned. Adopting a report by Paschal Mooney (Ireland, LDR), they called for a clear political commitment of European governments to maintain strong and vibrant independent public service broadcasting, whilst adapting it to the requirements of the digital age.
27/01/2004 | News
Undeniable efforts by Armenian authorities are once more showing a real political will to making progress towards honouring obligations and commitments which Armenia entered into, the Assembly said. However, parliamentarians called for further substantial progress as regards the functioning of the judicial system and the independence of the judiciary, the situation in Armenian prisons and the conditions of detention, the misconduct of law enforcement officials, freedom of demonstration and media pluralism.
26/01/2004 | News
Members of the Assembly today honoured the memory of the late Lord Hardy. Peter Hardy, who died in December 2003, was one of the leading figures of the Parliamentary Assembly between 1976 and 1997 and a dynamic Vice-Chair of the Socialist Group. He was a member of the Environment Committee. The Assembly President expressed his deep sorrow at the loss of the British peer.
26/01/2004 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly opened on Monday 26 its Winter session in Strasbourg. The members decided to remove the debate on euthanasia, initially scheduled for Thursday, from the agenda. They also agreed to hold two urgent debates, on "Terrorism: a threat to democracy" and "The constitutional crisis in Ukraine". Other highlights include speeches by the Presidents of Georgia and Cyprus, to mark the debates on the situations in their respective countries.
26/01/2004 | News
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder (Austria) has today been re-elected for a third one-year mandate. The President of the Assembly is elected for a one year mandate, which can be renewed twice. The Parliamentary Assembly has also elected its 19 Vice-Presidents.
26/01/2004 | News
The Assembly today confirmed, by 71 votes to 28, the decision of its Bureau not to monitor Liechtenstein over recent constitutional changes but instead to start a dialogue with authorities of the Principality on the question. The Monitoring Committee had earlier recommended opening a full monitoring procedure. The Bureau will now consider what form the dialogue could take at its meeting on Friday.
26/01/2004 | News
Strasbourg is Europe’s political capital, home to the Council of Europe, its Court of Human Rights and the European Parliament. But in order to pursue this vocation, the Assembly said that the city now needs a new, more forwardlooking and dynamic approach to its development on the part of the host country, France. To attract top government experts and diplomats, priority should be given to improving air connections and establishing high-speed train links with major European cities.
26/01/2004 | News
The Assembly today repeated its call for the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights to have the power to bring cases before the European Court of Human Rights in areas where obstacles exist or potential applicants might fear reprisals. Taking part in the debate, current Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles called for “more direct” co-operation with the Court and welcomed the Assembly’s political support for his work.
26/01/2004 | News
Peter Schieder this morning welcomed the presence of NGO representatives in the debating chamber. "Like the Assembly, you challenge the political accountability of decisions, you consider participatory democracy as an indispensable element of pluralist democracy. For a long time, our Assembly has been asking for a change in your status and you have obtained this now: from consultation to participation. In the light of your new role within the Council of Europe, it is time to consider a specific and perhaps even more formal status for NGOs within the Assembly. The aim is a closer contact", he said.