08/03/2013 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The progress of reforms in Morocco and the state of the country’s co-operation with the Council of Europe will be the main focus of parliamentary hearings during a meeting of the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy in Rabat on Wednesday 13 March.
07/03/2013 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“Internet and politics: the impact of new information and communication technology on democracy” is the theme of a hearing in Paris on Monday 11 March by the PACE Culture Committee. For Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), who is preparing a report on the subject, these paradigm shifts mean we have to analyse the structural impact of the Internet and the new social media on democracy.
07/03/2013 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“I warmly welcome last night’s 27-20 vote by the Maryland Senate to repeal the death penalty,” said Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), the PACE general rapporteur on abolition of the death penalty.
07/03/2013 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs for Ukraine, Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), together with the Rapporteur on “Keeping political and criminal responsibility separate”, Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), have jointly expressed their deep concern and disappointment at the revocation of the parliamentary mandate of Serhiy Vlasenko.
06/03/2013 | Monitoring
Following their visit to Budapest from 25 to 27 February 2013, PACE co-rapporteurs for the opinion on the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE) and Jana Fischerová (Czech Republic, EDG), have expressed their concern about the recently proposed amendments to the Hungarian Constitution (the so-called fourth amendment).
06/03/2013 | President
“I would like us to launch a joint appeal to as many countries as possible to ratify the Istanbul Convention – and where better to do so than at the UN – to ensure that this instrument can come into force as soon as possible. This Convention should greatly reinforce our action to stop violence against women,” said Jean-Claude Mignon.
05/03/2013 | President
In the run-up to International Women’s Day, PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, has declared: “8 March is an auspicious annual occasion for all those involved in promoting women’s rights. This year the event will have the theme of ‘A Promise is a Promise: Time to Act to End Violence against Women’...
05/03/2013 | President
“I am appealing to all of you to help ensure that 2013 is the year the Istanbul Convention comes into force,” said Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the PACE, today at the opening of an event organised by the Council of Europe and the French Permanent Delegation to the United Nations, alongside the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
05/03/2013 | Standing Committee
Debates on the industrial heritage in Europe, and on reinforcing the selection processes for experts of key Council of Europe human rights monitoring mechanisms, will feature on the agenda of the PACE Standing Committee at its meeting in Paris on Friday 8 March 2013.
01/03/2013 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Håkon Haugli (Norway, SOC), PACE rapporteur on "Tackling discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity", ended today a three-day fact-finding visit to Hungary, During his visit, discussions focused on the developments in Hungarian legislation and their possible impact on the situation of LGBT people, as well as on the implementation of the existing anti-discrimination regulations.
01/03/2013 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New York on 5 March. On the day before, he will speak at a side event organised by the Council of Europe and the permanent mission of France to the United Nations, at the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
26/02/2013 | President
Speaking yesterday in the Romanian parliament, Jean-Claude Mignon, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), welcomed “Romania’s contribution to stability in the region”. Referring to last summer’s political crisis, the President said he was pleased that the country had managed to settle its differences peacefully, seeing this as a “sign of democratic maturity”...