Committee of the Parties

Council of Europe Convention
on preventing and combating violence
against women and domestic violence
(Istanbul Convention)
_____________________________________

List of decisions taken at the 3rd meeting
Strasbourg, 26 April 2016
IC-CP/Inf(2016)LD3

Published on 29 April 2016

1.         Opening of the meeting and adoption of the agenda

The Committee adopted the draft agenda as it appears in document IC-CP(2016)OJ3prov.

2.         Exchange of views with the President of the Group of Experts on Action against     Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO)

The Committee welcomed the initiation of the evaluation procedure by GREVIO in March 2016 and invited the Parties under evaluation to co-operate fully with the Group in order to enable it to carry out its task effectively.

3.         Designation or establishment of co-ordinating bodies in application of Article 10 of the             Istanbul Convention

The Committee welcomed information from a number of Parties and invited them, as well as any other Parties which have not yet done so, to inform the Secretariat in writing of any action taken to designate or establish official co-ordinating bodies in application of Article 10 of the Convention.

4.         State of signatures and ratifications of the Istanbul Convention

a.    Action taken by member States of the Council of Europe towards ratification of the Istanbul Convention

The Committee:

-     welcomed the recent signature of the Convention by Bulgaria and its ratification by Belgium and San Marino;

-     encouraged again other member States of the Council of Europe that have not yet done so, to sign and/or ratify the Convention at the earliest opportunity.

b.    Action taken by the European Union towards signature and ratification of the Istanbul Convention

The Committee took note of the publication of the European Union Commission’s proposals on the signature and ratification, on behalf of the European Union, of the Convention and welcomed the information that this question is a priority for the Commission.

5.         Information on co-operation activities of the Council of Europe of interest to the     Committee of the Parties

The Committee:

-    took note of the information provided by the Secretariat on co-operation activities of the Council of Europe in the field of violence against women;

-    invited again the Parties to contribute to the development of co-operation activities aimed at supporting States to implement the Convention.

6.         Exchange of views with the Chairperson of the Gender Equality Commission (GEC)

The Committee welcomed the information provided by the President of GEC and agreed to pursue dialogue in the context of activities of common interest.

7.         Election of Bureau members

In accordance with Rule 4 of its Rules of Procedure, the Committee declared

-       Mr Erdoğan Işcan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe, re-elected as its Chair,

-       Mr Rudolf Lennkh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Austria to the Council of Europe, re-elected as its First Vice-Chair, and

-       Ms Jocelyne Caballero, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of France to the Council of Europe, re-elected as its Second Vice-Chair,

for another term of office of one year starting on 4 May 2016.

8.         Date of next meeting

The Committee decided to hold its next meeting before 4 May 2017, the exact date of which will be determined later in the light of future ratifications.

9.         Other business

The Committee appointed Ms Maria Esther RABASA GRAU, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Andorra to the Council of Europe, as its Gender Equality Rapporteur.

10.       Adoption of the list of decisions taken