26/04/2010 | Session
The Committee of Ministers’ Chairperson welcomed, on 26 April, the Council of Europe reform started by its Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland. She raised problems encountered in Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina. She considers it vital that the Committee of Ministers sends a clear and unanimous message to Bosnia and Herzegovina to align its Constitution and legislation with requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights without further delay.
26/04/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
At the end of its parliamentary debate on lobbying, PACE recommended that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe draw up a European code of conduct on lobbying, based in particular on a very clear definition of lobbying activities, a strengthening of transparency and the laying down of rules applicable to politicians, civil servants, members of pressure groups and business enterprises.
26/04/2010 | Session
Looking ahead to this week's visit by President Yanukovich, the PACE President, in his opening speech at the spring session, said that the Assembly should give its assistance and support to the Ukrainian authorities right now, as the new government faced urgent and important issues which were crucial for the future of the country.
26/04/2010 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today elected Ivan Popescu (Ukraine, SOC) Vice-President of the Assembly with respect to Ukraine.
26/04/2010 | Session
Adopting the final agenda of its Spring 2010 plenary session (26-30 avril), the Assembly decided to hold urgent debates on the urgent need for a constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina and on the situation in Belarus, both on Thursday morning. The parliamentarians decided to discuss the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia during a current affairs debate, on Wednesday morning, with an intervention from the former head of the international fact-finding mission on the conflict Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini. The debate on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity will take place on Thursday afternoon, and the one on the consequences of the economic crisis on Tuesday afternoon. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich will address the Assembly on Tuesday and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday.
26/04/2010 | Bureau
PACE Bureau, meeting this morning in Strasbourg, adopted the following declaration: “The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is concerned about the continuing political crisis in Albania following the June 2009 parliamentary elections, notwithstanding the partial return of opposition Socialist MPs to the Albanian Parliament after the visit of PACE’s Presidential Committee to Tirana in February this year".
22/04/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christoph Strässer (Germany, SOC), PACE rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan, has welcomed today’s judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, which held that the prison sentence against opposition journalist Eynulla Fatullayev violates, among other things, the freedom of expression and of information protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
20/04/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
“I was shocked to learn that the Hamas movement has, for the first time since it took over in Gaza, applied the death penalty to two Palestinians – and I am deeply concerned at reports that it is contemplating further executions soon,” said Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty for PACE, in a letter today to the Secretary General of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
16/04/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The future Medicrime Council of Europe Convention “is not expected to eliminate counterfeit medicines or to make counterfeiters extinct, but it criminalises counterfeiting,” and reflects the governments and parliaments’ willingness to “reaffirm their commitment to co-operating in the detection of counterfeit medical products and combat this phenomenon," Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE) said yesterday, at the opening of a conference on this issue.
14/04/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has said that holding free and fair parliamentary elections in November would be “the best way” for Azerbaijan to celebrate its tenth anniversary as a member of the Council of Europe next year. The President, speaking mid-way through a four-day official visit to Azerbaijan (13-16 April), said the aim of his visit was to express support for the continuation of democratic reforms in the country.
14/04/2010 | Session
Addresses by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as a series of debates on the consequences of the economic crisis, are among highlights of PACE forthcoming session. Two proposals to hold urgent debates have been tabled, on the urgent need for a constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina [...] and on the situation in Belarus. The parliamentarians will debate a report on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, which calls for the legal recognition of same-sex partnerships across Europe. There will also be a debate on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, with an intervention from the former head of the international fact-finding mission on the conflict Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini.
13/04/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the protection of witnesses as the cornerstone for justice and reconciliation in the Balkans, will make a fact-finding visit to Pristina on 15-16 April. During his visit, he will meet representatives of the judicial system, in particular.