28/04/2004 | News
The Assembly today acknowledged the necessity for changes to the European Court of Human Rights to enable it to cope with a huge increase in its workload – but said a proposal to add a new admissibility criterion for individual applications was “vague, subjective and liable to do the applicant a serious injustice” while excluding only 1.6 per cent of existing cases.
28/04/2004 | News
"Diversity forms the essence of European civilisation. Which is why the values that permit difference – freedom of religion and expression, equality before the law and the sanctity of life – apply to everyone in Europe. Without exception. If Europe does not resolutely protect this shared canon of values, it will put the essence of its civilisation at risk. Diversity without unity cannot exist," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende stressed when addressing the Assembly today. "For this reason, a crucial task for us as governments and you as representatives of the people is to continue to propagate and protect these values in a multicultural Europe," he said. He pointed out that the Assembly was an extremely valuable arena for dialogue on values in Europe and that the Committee of Ministers translated the values into norms.
28/04/2004 | News
Five new judges have been elected and 13 sitting judges re-elected to the European Court of Human Rights. The Assembly has today elected new judges in respect of Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Norway. The sitting judges in respect of Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom were re-elected. Judges are elected by the Assembly from lists of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. Under the present terms of the Convention, judges are elected for six years and can be re-elected.
28/04/2004 | News
The Armenian authorities should allow peaceful demonstrations to take place, release those detained during recent demonstrations, immediately investigate any reported human rights abuses that took place and create fair conditions for the media, the Assembly said today following an urgent debate on the situation in the country. If no progress is made on these demands by the opening of the September session, the parliamentarians resolved to reconsider the credentials of the Armenian delegation. However, they also called on the opposition to achieve its goals within the constitutional framework. Both sides should engage in a peaceful dialogue without preconditions, they stressed.
27/04/2004 | News
The Assembly has decided not to proceed to the election of the judges in respect of Malta, Portugal and Slovakia during the April 2004 part-session. It has asked the governments of those three countries to present new lists of candidates. The reasons are, as regards Malta and Slovakia, that their lists do not include candidates of both sexes and that the procedure followed at national level did not respect the Assembly’s recommendations regarding publicity and the principle of transparency. As regards Portugal, the procedure followed at national level did not respect the Assembly’s recommendations regarding publicity and the principle of transparency and because only one of the candidates fulfils the conditions necessary to be considered for election and possesses all the qualifications required by the Convention.
27/04/2004 | News
In the light of the reforms it has already made and its commitments to introduce new laws, Monaco is now ready to become a member of the Council of Europe, the Assembly declared today – but it should be invited to join only once its consultations with France open the possibility for Monegasque citizens to be appointed to senior government and public posts in their own country.
27/04/2004 | News
The Assembly decided today that it “cannot but ratify the credentials of the parliamentary delegation of Serbia and Montenegro” following yesterday’s challenge, saying that it considers it necessary to be able to deal with extremist parties, and individual members of such parties, when they are appointed members of national delegations to the Assembly. A decision not to ratify – which must apply to the whole delegation under the Assembly’s current rules – would “punish the democratic forces in Serbia and Montenegro represented in its national delegation”, the parliamentarians said. The Assembly resolved to adapt its rules as quickly as possible to allow the credentials of individual members to be contested on the grounds of substance.
27/04/2004 | News
In his speech before the Assembly, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader stressed his country’s European vocation and its commitment to European ideals. With an agreement on EU accession expected in June, the country was pursuing a historic path of European integration and counted on the support and assistance of the Council of Europe, he said. “The Council of Europe should remain a vigilant fortress of its values for all Europe. Democracy, rule of law, human rights and minority rights are a heritage of our history and a guide to our future,” stated Mr Sanader.
27/04/2004 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly today called for a “European Prisons Charter” spelling out prisoners’ rights and obligations, which would be binding on all member states. Drawn up in conjunction with the EU, it would include rules on detention conditions, access to lawyers and doctors, visiting rights and activities for rehabilitation and education. 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.
27/04/2004 | News
Following a long debate on euthanasia, based on the report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR), the Assembly decided not to vote on the text but instead to refer it back to committee. The parliamentarians gave the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee a year to prepare a new text which brings together the widely diverging approaches expressed during the debate. Dick Marty, who himself proposed the reference back to committee, nonetheless regretted the “too numerous misunderstandings” on the question and deplored “taboos, dogmatism and a refusal to discuss”. He hoped that the committee would submit a revised text which “no longer speaks of euthanasia, but uses another term which can do justice to a real problem existing in our society”.
26/04/2004 | News
The credentials of the new parliamentary delegation of Serbia and Montenegro were challenged on substantial grounds on the opening day of the session. Making the challenge, Roman Jakić (Slovenia, LDR) said: “Members of the delegation belong to two parties whose leaders are being tried for war crimes and genocide at the Hague.” There were therefore “open questions” which should be examined before the credentials were ratified, he said. The Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee will report on the question tomorrow afternoon, with an opinion from the Rules Committee.
26/04/2004 | News
In his opening speech today, Assembly President Peter Schieder stressed that a ‘Yes’ vote in the Cyprus referendum would have been a clear signal for ‘One Europe’. "It would have meant the end of division on the island and the start of a time of unity and greater strength. It is clear that we fully respect the result of the referendum and the will of the people of Cyprus. But we cannot hide the fact that we are deeply disappointed that a historic chance has been missed. The Assembly will discuss the situation in an urgent procedure debate," he said.