10/12/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Top officials and parliamentarians from the Council of Europe and the European Union have discussed ways of strengthening co-operation between the two organisations, in the light of their shared aims, at a PACE parliamentary hearing which took place on Human Rights Day. Participants at the...
09/12/2020 | President
On the occasion of the Human Rights Day 2020, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rik Daems, made the following statement: “Human rights should not be allowed to become the collateral damage of emergency measures that are being taken to protect the lives and the...
08/12/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Malta’s implementation of Assembly recommendations on ensuring justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and strengthening the rule of law is “unsatisfactory”, the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee has said, endorsing a follow-up report by its rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD) made...
08/12/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The Legal Affairs Committee, meeting by videoconference, today expressed its concern that civil society space was shrinking in several member States, stressing that “restrictive legislation and regulations were still being applied, particularly in Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Turkey...
08/12/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee has urged authorities in the Republic of Moldova and in Poland to take a series of steps to uphold the rule of law and ensure judicial independence. Approving a report by Andrea Orlando (Italy, SOC), the committee said it was concerned by “the proximity of part of...
07/12/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Strengthening co-operation between the 47-nation Council of Europe and the 27-nation European Union, including EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, will be the focus of a virtual parliamentary hearing to be livestreamed from around 10.30 am CET on Thursday 10th December. The...
04/12/2020 | Standing Committee
The time has come to make the world more ‘autism-friendly’, PACE’s Standing Committee has urged, calling for “person-centred and life-long support” for people with autism and their families. In a resolution based on a report by Sevinj Fataliyeva (Azerbaijan, EC/DA), approved today during a...
04/12/2020 | Standing Committee
The PACE Standing Committee, meeting today by videoconference, underlined the essential role of guardians in ensuring protection and respect of the fundamental rights of unaccompanied and separated migrant children. “Guardianship systems are not harmonised across Europe and differ from country to...
04/12/2020 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The need to change how wealth is redistributed across professional football in Europe, following the crisis caused by COVID-19, was the main topic of a PACE parliamentary hearing on solidarity in the sport. Representatives from all sides of the game – the world and European governing bodies...
04/12/2020 | Standing Committee
The PACE Standing Committee, meeting today by videoconference, strongly condemned attacks on NGOs and their donors assisting refugees and migrants, stressing that such attacks could take the form of “physical violence, legal obstacles, judicial, administrative or fiscal harassment, smear...
04/12/2020 | Standing Committee
National programmes for the award of citizenship, residence permits and tax domiciles to foreign investors must respect the legal standards set by the Council of Europe, as well as relevant international legal standards designed to prevent corruption, money laundering and terrorists financing...
02/12/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination declared: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous negative impact on such fundamental rights as access to education, healthcare and employment globally. Persons...