24/04/2012 | Session
In a resolution adopted today, PACE invites countries in the southern Mediterranean that have recently moved towards democracy to introduce reforms “to enhance the status of women and eradicate all forms of discrimination against them”, and to promote women’s representation in elected public bodies.
24/04/2012 | Session
“We must all encourage women to continue and increase their participation in democratic movements : there can be no democracy without respect for women’s rights,” said the PACE President, speaking today at the opening of a hearing on women’s contribution to the Arab Spring and the outlook for the status of women.
24/04/2012 | Session
PACE today elected Paul Lemmens as judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Belgium. Mr Lemmens, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected a judge of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of 9 years starting on 12 September 2012.
24/04/2012 | Session
PACE parliamentarians today set out a series of ideas for increasing the involvement of citizens in decisions which affect them, especially at local level. Adopting a report by the Earl of Dundee (United Kingdom, EDG), the Assembly called on cities and governments to share ideas about “practical ways to enhance participation, citizenship and good governance at local levels”.
23/04/2012 | Session
When adopting the agenda of its plenary Spring Session (23-27 April), the Assembly decided to hold an urgent debate on the situation in Syria as well as a current affairs debate on the the future of the European Court of Human Rights and the Brighton Declaration.
23/04/2012 | Session
At the opening of its Spring plenary Session (23-27 April 2012), the Assembly today elected its Vice-Presidents with respect to Luxembourg (Fernand Boden) and Spain (José Maria Beneyto Pérez).
23/04/2012 | Session
In his opening address PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, welcomed in particular the decision to hold an urgent debate on Syria on Thursday morning. "Our aim, as ever, is to ensure that the democratic changes in the southern Mediterranean go off as peacefully as possible, with full respect for fundamental human rights. This has not always been the case in Syria, where there have been over ten thousand deaths and thousands of refugees – a genuine humanitarian disaster. We cannot remain silent in the face of such atrocities!" he said.
23/04/2012 | Session
Governments must work together in a spirit of cooperation to ensure that the package agreed at the Brighton Conference for reform of the Court of Human Rights is brought into the European Convention of Human Rights by 2013, UK Europe Minister David Lidington told the Assembly today.
12/04/2012 | Session
The effects of the Arab Spring will be a major theme of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to be held in Strasbourg from 23 to 27 April 2012. There will be an address by the Foreign Minister of Morocco and a debate on “Equality between women and men: a condition for the success of the Arab Spring” attended by Morocco's minister responsible for womens’ issues. There has also been a request for an urgent debate on the situation in Syria
27/01/2012 | Session
PACE committees elected their Chairpersons: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG) Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development Liliane Maury Pasquier (Switzerland, SOC)...
27/01/2012 | Session
In a resolution adopted today on the basis of a report by Egidijus Vareikis (Lithuania, EPP/CD), PACE expressly condemned any form of enforced population transfer in Europe and elsewhere in the world, a practice which involves moving persons into or out of an area, either within or across an international border, or within, into or out of an occupied territory, without their free consent.The Assembly pointed out that enforced population transfer violated international human rights law and also international criminal law and international humanitarian law, as well as public international law principles.
27/01/2012 | Session
Despite declining fertility rates and the ageing of its population, Europe still has the opportunity to compete and remain economically and politically influential, PACE has said. Approving a report by Nursuna Memecan (Turkey, ALDE), the Assembly advised member states - among other things - to encourage innovation and technology, to increase investment in “human capital” and to treat migrants in particular as a major asset.