The honouring of membership obligations to the Council of Europe by San Marino
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 28 April 2023 (14th sitting) (see Doc. 15737, report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations
and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring
Committee), co-rapporteurs: Mr Andrej Hunko and Mr Joseph O'Reilly). Text adopted by the Assembly on
28 April 2023 (14th sitting).
1. San Marino, a micro-State, the
world’s oldest extant sovereign State, as well as the world’s oldest constitutional
republic, joined the Council of Europe in 1988. The Assembly pays
tribute to its unique and well-developed system of democratic and
rule-of-law institutions that are well adapted to its historical
democratic heritage as well as to its particularities as a micro-State.
While these structures have been constantly adapted to the needs
of a changing society, its main tenets, collegiate governing structures
which are shared among the citizens for limited terms, have remained
in place. The Parliamentary Assembly notes that this has resulted in
a very close proximity between the citizens and their political
and governing structures, and an equally close distance between
the different branches of power, which are often intertwined.
2. The Assembly recognises that these unique governing structures,
combined with the particularities of San Marino as a micro-State,
have generated concerns about the effectiveness of the system of
checks and balances in the country and the potential vulnerability
of its democratic institutions and office holders to corruption
and conflicts of interest. The Assembly therefore welcomes the clearly
present political will, and the numerous reforms implemented, to
strengthen the functioning and resilience of its democratic and
rule-of-law institutions. While these reforms have given these institutions
a solid basis for their democratic functioning, the Assembly considers
that continuing vigilance and openness to reform should remain a
priority for the authorities.
3. In order to retain its independence as a sovereign State in
an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, San Marino
has become an active member of the international community and has harmonised
its institutions and legal framework with international norms and
standards. The Assembly welcomes the continuous efforts by San Marino
to ensure that its democratic institutions and legal framework adhere
to international norms and standards, including its obligations
as a member State of the Council of Europe.
4. San Marino is a parliamentary republic with a well-developed
and pluralist multiparty political environment. The Great and General
Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale), the San Marinese Parliament,
in which the sovereignty of its people is vested, is at the centre
of the country’s democratic institutions and system of checks and
balances. The Great and General Council is formally a part-time
parliament whose members do not receive a salary for their parliamentary
work and who are therefore dependent on secondary employment. However,
the workload of a member of the Great and General Council is far
from being part-time. The Assembly is concerned that there are no
specific legal provisions for employers in the private sector to
provide members of the Great and General Council with the necessary
time off to pursue their parliamentary work, with maintenance of
their salary and compensation to those employers for lost working
time. In order to ensure the possibility for members working in
the public and private sectors to participate on an equal footing
in the work of the Great and General Council, the Assembly recommends
that such legal provisions be adopted.
5. The Assembly is concerned about the imbalance in the equality
of arms between the legislative and executive powers in San Marino,
which has resulted in an executive that is too powerful and that
in practice rules by decree, instead of waiting for the Great and
General Council to guide policies and take legislative action. While
the recommended improvement in the working conditions for members
of the Great and General Council would go some way to alleviating
this problem, addressing this issue on a more systemic level should be
considered in the context of future institutional reforms.
6. The Assembly recognises and welcomes the democratic benefits
of the close proximity and strong human links between the executive,
elected representatives and the citizens of San Marino. At the same
time, it is concerned about the impact of this proximity on the
functioning of the system of checks and balances and the vulnerability
of the democratic institutions and their office holders to corruption
and potential conflicts of interest. The Assembly therefore welcomes
the reforms that have been implemented with a view to addressing these
vulnerabilities in respect of the legislative and judicial fields,
in line with the recommendations of the Group of States against
Corruption (GRECO). In this context, the Assembly:
6.1 welcomes the adoption by the
Great and General Council of a code of ethics for its members and urges
the Great and General Council to ensure that the code is regularly
updated and adapted to new developments;
6.2 recommends that the authorities adopt the necessary legislation
that would allow for San Marinese citizens to notify formally the
authorities of discrepancies in the declarations of interest of members
of the Great and General Council that are posted on the latter’s
website;
6.3 recommends the introduction of sanctions by the Great
and General Council for more serious violations of the code of ethics
or deliberate omissions and discrepancies in the declarations of
interest by its members;
6.4 recommends that GRECO consider initiating, as soon as
possible, its evaluation in respect of San Marino in the framework
of its fifth evaluation round on preventing corruption and promoting
integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and law-enforcement
agencies, and calls upon the San Marinese authorities to address
fully and promptly any possible recommendations and concerns that may
stem from this evaluation.
7. The Assembly welcomes the recent implementation of far-reaching
reforms of the judiciary with a view to strengthening its independence
and resilience against external interference. It welcomes the conclusions
by GRECO in its compliance report that these reforms address practically
all of the recommendations made in its evaluation report in respect
of San Marino in the framework of its fourth evaluation round on
prevention of corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges
and prosecutors. The Assembly calls upon the authorities to monitor
consistently the independence and efficiency of the judiciary and
to adopt further reforms, if necessary, to fully ensure this. In
order to further improve judicial efficiency and impartiality, the
Assembly suggests that the authorities explore the possibility of
establishing the office of prosecutor general.
8. Historically, San Marino has a well-developed institutional
and legal system for the protection of fundamental human rights.
However, this should not be a reason for complacency, especially
as in a number of cases the legal framework for the protection of
human rights lags behind the current developments and acceptance
of rights in San Marinese society. In this context, the Assembly:
8.1 calls upon the Great and General
Council to adopt the relevant legislation to allow all religious denominations
to register, with equal rights, as religious organisations in San
Marino;
8.2 calls upon the Great and General Council to lower to five
years the residency requirement for foreign residents to participate
in local elections, in line with European standards;
8.3 recommends that the authorities establish an independent
specialised body to combat racism and discrimination, in line with
the 1993 Paris Principles, and provide this body with sufficient
resources to execute adequately its tasks;
8.4 recommends that the authorities ensure the adequate collection
of statistical data with regard to important social matters such
as minorities, discrimination and intolerance, as well as women’s
rights, in order to guide the drafting of policies in these areas;
8.5 given the dependence of the authorities on civil society
organisations and citizens’ initiatives to implement human rights
and social policies, invites the authorities to ensure that these
organisations have adequate access to funding and resources in order
to carry out their tasks.
9. The Assembly welcomes the diverse and pluralistic media environment
in San Marino. At the same time, it is concerned that strict privacy
laws and the continuing criminalisation of defamation hinder access
to public information and could lead to self-censorship by journalists.
The Assembly therefore calls upon the authorities to:
9.1 decriminalise defamation in
line with European standards;
9.2 amend the applicable legislation to ensure the genuine
independence of the media authority;
9.3 ensure, in law and in practice, unhindered access to public
information by journalists and San Marinese citizens.
10. The Assembly lauds San Marino for its wide and impressive
range of institutional consultation mechanisms and instruments of
direct democracy. At the same time, it expresses concern about the
numerous reports that indicate that these consultation mechanisms
are not always used as foreseen by law, or that their results are
ignored or not implemented. Given the importance of these instruments
for the functioning of democratic institutions in San Marino, the
Assembly urges the authorities to continue to ensure, and where necessary
strengthen, the effectiveness of the various consultation mechanisms
and instruments of direct democracy.
