25/05/2016 | President
"The release of my fellow PACE member Nadiia Savchenko is excellent news," said Pedro Agramunt. "I commend both Russia and Ukraine for making this possible, and I look forward to welcoming her in Strasbourg soon", he added.
25/05/2016 | President
Pedro Agramunt, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, has welcomed the decision today of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan to release investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova.
23/05/2016 | Monitoring
Following a visit to Yerevan, the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, Alan Meale and Guiseppe Galati, have urged political forces to continue their dialogue on the new electoral code, and to seek compromise.
21/05/2016 | Monitoring
“We are deeply concerned at the decision taken yesterday by the parliament to strip the immunity from prosecution of 138 members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly,” said Ingebjørg Godskesen and Nataša Vučković.
20/05/2016 | President
Pedro Agramunt praised the role that parliamentary assemblies can play in promoting dialogue and co-operation between states in tackling the global challenges of combating international terrorism and addressing the refugee crisis.
20/05/2016 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Bernd Fabritius will conduct a fact-finding visit to Bucharest and to Chisinau, in connection with the preparation of his report on “Strengthening the rule of law in South-East European countries through targeted reform of the legal system”.
20/05/2016 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“The system created to fight impunity and to complement national jurisdictions needs the support of all States to be fully efficient”, said Alain Destexhe at the opening of the hearing on co-operation with the ICC.
19/05/2016 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee will meet in Tallinn on Friday 27 May at the Riigikogu (Parliament), in the context of the Estonian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers (18 May – 22 November 2016).
19/05/2016 | Monitoring
Boriss Cilevics and Kerstin Lundgren expressed their regret at the hasty adoption, reportedly undermining the transparency of the process, of amendments to the laws governing the functioning of the Constitutional Court.
18/05/2016 | Rules, Ethics and Immunities
The committee expressed its concern at the serious infringements of the independence and freedom of expression of certain members, who have been the target of disguised sanctions on the part of their parliament or their party.
18/05/2016 | President
PACE President Pedro Agramunt has warned that the European Convention on Human Rights – which he described as the “gold standard” of human rights protection – could collapse if states “pick and choose” which judgments of the Strasbourg Court they are ready to accept. Addressing Council of Europe...
18/05/2016 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“Parliamentary responsibility is a fundamental concept for the smooth functioning of any representative democracy,” Michele Nicoletti said, introducing a joint seminar on parliamentary accountability today in Rome.