| • |
|
Ministers'
Deputies
Written Question No. 395 by Mr McNamara on the Moldovan judge on the European Court of Human Rights is contained in document CM(2001)73. In his question, Mr McNamara raises the following sub-questions :
“- what are the contents of the letter of 16 February from the President of the Court which led the Chairman to write to the Moldovan Foreign Minister;
- what response has been received from the Moldovan Government;
- when will the Committee resume consideration of this issue and in so doing will they take account of public statements on 6 April made by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Affairs containing allegations regarding the current Moldovan judge on the European Court of Human Rights.”
The Secretariat has prepared a draft reply containing elements to each of the above questions. This draft reply is appended in the form of a draft decision.
The Deputies held a brief preliminary exchange of views on this item at their 752nd meeting (16 May 2001), but since a delegation had requested the postponement of the item, the Chairman noted that the Deputies would resume consideration on the basis of the present draft. Delegations were invited to submit proposed amendments to the Secretariat in writing.
However, it has been indicated to the Secretariat that the statement, contained in the draft reply that the Vice-Chairman of the Deputies had written to the President of the Assembly informing him of developments concerning this issue, is erroneous. The Secretariat has therefore removed this reference from the appended draft text.
It is recalled that, at their 753rd meeting (23 May 2001, item 4.4), “The Deputies accepted the Chairman's offer to preside over a drafting group to produce a revised draft reply to Written Question No. 395 and agreed to resume consideration of this item at their 754th meeting (6 June 2001).”
Subsequently, the Chairman fixed the date of a drafting Group for Friday 1 June 2001 at 3.00 pm in Room 40. Following that meeting, the attached revised draft reply was prepared. It was agreed in the drafting Group that copies of the various correspondence exchanged during the Deputies' examination of this question should be appended to the draft reply. Copies of this correspondence will be issued in an Addendum to these Notes.
DRAFT DECISION
756th meeting – 12 June 2001
Item 4.2
Moldovan judge on the European Court of Human
Rights – (CM/Del/Dec(2001)753/4.4, CM(2001)73)
The Deputies adopted the following reply to Written Question N° 395 by Mr McNamara to the Committee of Ministers:
“The Committee of Ministers has carefully examined Written Question No. 395 by Mr McNamara. It fully agrees that the preparation of lists of candidates who meet the criteria for election to the European Court of Human Rights, as provided in Article 21 of the European Convention on Human Rights is a matter of member states' sovereign responsibility. Nonetheless certain rules should be observed. In its reply to Assembly Recommendation 1429, the Committee of Ministers mentioned in particular the need to respect the principles of transparency, fairness and consistency of application. [The Committee of Ministers is aware of the importance that the Court and the Assembly attach to the maintenance of a certain continuity in the composition of the Court, so as to ensure its operational efficiency and the cohesiveness of its case-law.] The Committee of Ministers, being made up of the representatives of all the governments which have consented to be bound by the Convention, makes no doubt about the need to uphold the provisions of the Convention in the defence of the Court's independence and impartiality.
In the first and second parts of his question respectively, Mr McNamara asks about the contents of the letter of the President of the European Court of Human Rights dated 16 February 2001 and of the response received from the Moldovan Government. In the interest of transparency and faithfulness to the information exchanged, the Committee of Ministers draws the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly to the appended copies of the relevant letters and their enclosures. In transmitting copies of this correspondence to the Assembly, the Committee emphasises that it implies no particular interpretation of the information presented therein.
In the third part of his question, Mr McNamara asks when the Committee of Ministers would be resuming consideration of this issue and whether in doing so it would take account of public statements made on 6 April by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova.
In this connection, the Committee recalls that, in its decision at the 743rd meeting, it had already decided to resume consideration of the item. It has been informed of the content of the public statements referred to. The Government of the Republic of Moldova has indicated to the Committee of Ministers that these statements do not represent – and indeed are contrary to – its views on this matter.
Finally, the Committee expresses the hope that a list of candidates in respect of Moldova will be submitted to it as soon as possible.”
|