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Lachin
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Statement by the Committee on Legal Affairs on the obstruction of the Lachin Corridor

22/03/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights today expressed great concern by the humanitarian crisis unfolding due to the ongoing obstruction of the Lachin Corridor. It adopted the following statement: Statement by the Committee on Legal Affairs on the obstruction of the Lachin Corridor

Constantinos Efstathiou (Cyprus, SOC)

Implementation of Court judgments: the Committee on Legal Affairs is concerned about the current trend

22/03/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

There has been an increase in the number of European Court of Human Rights judgments pending before the Committee of Ministers, from 5,231 at the end of 2019 to 6,256 on 1 March 2023, the PACE Legal Affairs Committee warned today. Having seen previous progress on reducing the backlog, it...

George Katrougalos (Greece, UEL)

Legal Affairs Committee underlines the “clear and unambiguous” obligation to comply with final binding...

22/03/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

There is not any hierarchy between the European Convention of Human Rights, EU law and national constitutions, in the sense of a traditional approach to the hierarchy of norms within a constitutional framework. Indeed, in the context of such multi-level constitutionalism “any attempt to impose...

Death row
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PACE rapporteur urges Israeli MPs to reconsider preliminary decision to allow death penalty for terrorists

02/03/2023 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

On Wednesday the Israeli Knesset gave its preliminary approval to a bill that would allow courts to impose the death penalty for terrorists found guilty of killing Israeli citizens. “This is a worrying development,” Aleksandar Nikoloski (North Macedonia, EPP/CD), PACE’s General Rapporteur on...

War destruction in Ukraine
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Compensation mechanisms for Ukraine the focus of a PACE hearing in Paris

13/12/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Ukraine’s Deputy Justice Minister Iryna Mudra spelled out proposals for a legal mechanism enabling her country to be compensated for the damage caused by Russia’s aggression during a PACE hearing in Paris on 12 December, web-streamed live. She set out detailed proposals for the creation of an...

Hearing on secret state surveillance and spyware

Politicians and journalists targeted by spyware testify at PACE hearing in Paris

12/12/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Politicians and journalists from Poland, Spain and Greece who have been targeted by the Pegasus or similar spyware gave testimony at a public hearing of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Paris on 12 December 2022, which was live-streamed in English. The hearing...

War destruction in Ukraine
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Compensation mechanisms for Ukraine the focus of a PACE hearing in Paris

06/12/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Legal mechanisms for Ukraine to be compensated financially for the damage caused by Russia’s aggression will be the main focus of a hearing of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Paris on 12 December, to be web-streamed live, with the participation of Ukraine’s Deputy...

Navalny demonstration / protest
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PACE rapporteur expresses concern over Alexei Navalny’s conditions of detention

29/11/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC), PACE’s rapporteur for follow-up on the implementation of Resolution 2446 (2022) on “Reported cases of political prisoners in the Russian Federation”, today reacted to news about Alexei Navalny’s indefinite solitary confinement in the penal colony where he is...

Damien Cottier (Switzerland, ALDE)
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Committee highlights need for international regulation of lethal autonomous weapons systems

15/11/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

The emergence of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) – that can select and attack targets without human intervention – requires clear regulation of their development and use, to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights, said the Legal Affairs Committee, by adopting...

Prison
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Europe can learn ‘useful lessons’ from the experience of prisons during Covid, says PACE committee

13/10/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Europe can learn “useful lessons” from the experience of prisons during the Covid pandemic, continuing to use alternatives to detention to reduce the prison population and ease overcrowding, according to PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee. In a draft resolution based on a report by Givi Mikanadze...

Death row
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"There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights", says PACE General Rapporteur

09/10/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

On the occasion of the World Day against the Death Penalty (10 October), PACE General Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD) made the following statement: "In this year’s World Day against the Death Penalty, we focus on capital punishment and the...

Vaccine / COVID

The use of Covid passes may lead to discrimination, says committee

13/09/2022 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights

The compulsory use of Covid passes, in particular vaccine passes – aimed at restricting travelling and access to certain public venues – entails risks of discrimination and infringements of human rights and fundamental freedoms, according to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The...