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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
CM Documents |
CM/AS(2017)3 |
21 April 2017 |
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Communication on the activities of the Committee of Ministers Report by the Chair of the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary Assembly (January-April 2017) |
Table of Content
2. Rule of law and judicial co-operation
4. Education, culture, youth and sport
6. Co-operation with other organisations and external relations
1. This report is the final one which the Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers has the honour to present before handing over the Chairmanship to the Czech Republic at the end of the next Ministerial Session which is to take place in Nicosia on 19 May. The Cypriot Chairmanship takes this opportunity to thank the Parliamentary Assembly for its excellent co-operation.
2. In February, the Committee of Ministers held an exchange of views with Mr Guido Raimondi, President of the European Court of Human Rights, on the activities of the Court and their outlook for the coming months. Furthermore in March, the Committee held in March an exchange of views with Mr John Murray, President of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Candidates for Election as Judge to the European Court of Human Rights. Finally, the Committee of Ministers also held exchanges of views with the Commissioner for Human Rights on the basis of his 4th quarterly activity report for 2016, and with Mr Mykola Gnatovskyy, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), in the light of the 26th general report
(1 January 2016 – 31 December 2016) of the CPT.
3. Early February, the Committee of Ministers examined the annual report 2016 on the implementation of the Council of Europe Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017. Furthermore, the Deputies held an exchange of views with the President of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), Mrs Siobhán Mullally, on the basis of the GRETA’s sixth general activity report for 2016.
4. On 9 February, the Committee of Ministers held its annual exchange of views on human rights questions within the framework of the United Nations with experts from capitals. On this occasion, it held a general debate on the developments and main results of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, reviewed co-operation between the Council of Europe and the United Nations in the human rights field in 2016 and discussed the major themes for the Human Rights Council in 2017 in the presence of
Mr Eric Tistounet, Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights(HCHR). Finally, the Committee held a thematic discussion on cultural rights and the protection of cultural heritage.
5. In April, the Committee of Ministers held an exchange of views on the abolition of the death penalty on the basis of a discussion document prepared by the Secretary General and entitled : “Policy of the Council of Europe in relation to the death penalty: challenges and policy options”. The Committee subsequently adopted a number of decisions in which, in particular, they reaffirmed their unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all places and in all circumstances, reiterated the objective to create a death penalty-free zone in Europe, welcomed the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty and encouraged all member States to support this trend by lobbying the authorities of those countries which still use the death penalty.
6. Finally, the Committee of Ministers adopted in April a reply to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2085 (2016) “Strengthening the protection and role of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States”.
2. Rule of law and judicial co-operation
7. In February, the Committee of Ministers held an exchange of views with Mr Duro Sessa, Vice-Chair of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE). On this occasion, the Committee took note of Opinion No. 19 (2016) of the CCJE on the role of court presidents, as well as of Opinion No. 11 (2016) of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) on the quality and efficiency of the work of prosecutors, including when fighting terrorism and serious and organised crime. The Committee decided to forward these opinions to the competent authorities in the member States, while encouraging their translation into appropriate languages if need be, and to the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe, in order that they may take account of it in their work.
8. Moreover, the Committee of Ministers took note of several documents prepared by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ): a report called “Measuring the quality of justice”, Guidelines on how to drive change towards Cyberjustice – Stocktaking of tools deployed and summary of good practices, a Good Practice Guide called: “Structural measures adopted by some Council of Europe member States to improve the functioning of civil and administrative justice in addition to the effective domestic remedies required by Article 13 of the ECHR”, an updated version of the Handbook for conducting satisfaction surveys aimed at court users in Council of Europe member States and finally an Implementation Guide: Towards European timeframes for judicial proceedings. The Committee invited member States to organise the translation of the above-mentioned documents into non-official languages if need be and to ensure a wide dissemination among the relevant political and judicial authorities.
9. In February, the Committee of Ministers agreed to the request of Ghana to be invited to accede to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (ETS No. 112). In March, it agreed to the request of Burkina Faso to be invited to accede to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 108) and to its Additional Protocol (ETS No. 181). These decisions are valid five years as from their adoption, in accordance with the decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers on 10 April 2013 on the review of Council of Europe conventions.
10. In March, the Committee adopted a Recommendation (CM/Rec(2017)2) to member States on the legal regulation of lobbying activities in the context of public decision-making and another Recommendation (CM/Rec(2017)3) on the European Rules on community sanctions and measures. Furthermore, it also took note of a Council of Europe Handbook for Prison and Probation Services regarding Radicalisation and Violent Extremism.
11. Finally, the Committee of Ministers adopted in February a reply to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2095 (2016) “Parliamentary immunity: challenges to the scope of the privileges and immunities enjoyed by members of the Parliamentary Assembly”.
13. In March, the Committee held an exchange of views with Professor Giuseppe Palmisano, President of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR). On 24 February 2017, the Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers organised a Conference on the role of domestic and international Courts in favour of Social rights in Europe. In addition, an interim report was submitted to the Committee by the Secretary General on the European Social Cohesion Platform (PECS). Finally, the new Council of Europe Disability Strategy (2017-2023) was launched in Nicosia on 27 and 28 March 2017.
4. Education, culture, youth and sport
14. In February, the Committee of Ministers adopted Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)1 to member States on the European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21st century. In addition, the Committee of Ministers decided to hold its 2017 Exchange on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue on
6-7 November 2017 in Strasbourg. The theme of the exchange will be: “Migrants and refugees; challenges and opportunities – what role for religious and non-religious groups?” and the sub-themes will be: “From reception to integration: the role of religious and non‑religious groups” and “The role of religious and non-religious groups in the development of migration policy”. Finally, in March, the Committee accepted the request by Lebanon to join the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes.
15. Moreover, the Committee took note of the resolutions adopted by the 14th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport (Budapest, Hungary, 29 November 2016) and instructed the Secretariat to transmit these resolutions to the competent Council of Europe bodies, in particular to the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS); to the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention
(T-DO); and to the Ad hoc European Committee to the World Anti-Doping Agency (CAHAMA), for information and for them to take into account in their future work, in line with their respective mandates. In April, the Committee designated Mr Witold Bańka, Minister of Sport and Tourism of Poland, as European candidate to the WADA Executive Committee appointed by the Council of Europe for 2017.
16. The Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers organised in Nicosia, on 22-23 March 2017, an international Conference entitled “Securing Democracy through Education”. The Conference gathered Ministers of Education from States Parties to the European Cultural Convention as well as their counterparts from South-Mediterranean countries and experts in education policy. The themes discussed focused on education for building inclusive societies, valuing diversity and dialogue, and education provision for refugees.
17. In February, the Committee of Ministers approved an Action Plan which aims to provide assistance to the Republic of Moldova for the period 2017-2020. A delegation of the Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM) of the Ministers’ Deputies paid a visit in this country from 23 to 24 March 2017 to meet the authorities and representatives of political forces and representatives of civil society in order to take stock of the co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Republic of Moldova.
18. At the beginning of March, the Committee held an exchange of views with Mr Bekir Bozdağ, Minister of Justice of Turkey, on the situation in this country and on the co-operation between the Council of Europe and Turkey.
19. Finally, on 19 April, the Secretary General presented to the Committee of Ministers his new consolidated report on the conflict in Georgia.
6. Co-operation with other organisations and external relations
20. Concerning relations with the European Union, the Committee of Ministers held an exchange of views on 5 April with Mr Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the European Commission, on the Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe. For its part, the Rapporteur Group on External Relations
(GR-EXT) met with Mr Rainer Hofmann, independent person appointed by the Council of Europe to sit on the organs of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
21. In March, the Committee held an exchange of views with Ambassador Florian Raunig, Head of the Task Force of the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship, on their priorities. In addition, the Coordination Group between the Council of Europe and the OSCE met in Strasbourg on 16 March 2017 to review the co-operation between the two organisations as regards the promotion of tolerance and non-discrimination and the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities.