TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly
Synopsis No 2000/184
5 January 2001
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, meeting in Paris on 18 December 2000 with Mr Jansson in the Chair, as regards:
- Conflict in the Chechen Republic – recent developments (Rapporteur for opinion: Mr Bindig, Germany, SOC): held an exchange of views with a representative of the non-governmental organisation «Memorial»; heard a statement by the Rapporteur on his visit to Moscow on 8-11 December 2000; authorised the Rapporteur to go to Moscow and to the Chechen Republic in January 2001, with Lord Judd, Rapporteur of the Political Affairs Committee;
- Rights of national minorities (Rapporteur: Mr Bindig, Germany, SOC): considered, amended and unanimously adopted a draft recommendation and a draft order, to be presented at the Assembly's January 2001 part-session;
- Transit migration in central and eastern Europe (Rapporteur for opinion: Mr Shishlov, Russia, LDR): heard a statement by the Rapporteur, and invited him to submit a written opinion at its next meeting;
- Participation of immigrants and foreign residents in political life in the Council of Europe member States (Rapporteur for opinion: Mr Akçali, Turkey, EGD): invited the Rapporteur to submit a written or oral opinion at its next meeting;
- Internet and law (Rapporteur: Mr Tallo, Estonia, SOC): considered a memorandum prepared by the secretariat, and decided to organise a hearing on cyber-crime on 6 March 2001 in Paris;
- Bosnia and Herzegovina's request for membership of the Council of Europe (Rapporteur for opinion: Mrs Jäätteenmäki, Finland, LDR): heard a statement by the Rapporteur on the state of the accession procedure, and decided to ask the Venice Commission for an opinion on the decision of 1 July 2000 of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on "the constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina";
- Abolition of the death penalty in Council of Europe observer States (Rapporteur: Mrs Wohlwend, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD): took note of a letter from the Consul General of Japan, and instructed the secretariat to make the necessary arrangements so that the visit could take place in February 2001;
- Azerbaijan's request for membership of the Council of Europe (Rapporteur for opinion: Mr Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR): took note of the report submitted to the Committee of Ministers by the authorities of Azerbaijan concerning the irregularities observed during the parliamentary elections on 5 November 2000, and held an exchange of views with a parliamentary delegation from Azerbaijan on the situation of political prisoners;
- Adapting the European Convention on Human Rights to current needs: The introduction of new rights (Rapporteur: Mrs Nabholz-Haidegger, Switzerland, LDR): heard a statement by the Rapporteur;
- Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (Rapporteur: Lord Kirkhill, United Kingdom, SOC): took note of the resignation of the Italian Judge on the European Court of Human Rights, and heard a statement by the Rapporteur on the renewal of the Sub-Committee on the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights;
- Establishment of an ad hoc committee on crimes connected to paedophilia (Rapporteur: Mr McNamara, United Kingdom, SOC): agreed with the conclusions of the Rapporteur, and decided to transmit the opinion of the Committee to the Bureau and to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee;
- European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT): Composition of the Committee (Rapporteur: Lord Kirkhill, United Kingdom, SOC): invited the Rapporteur to submit a preliminary draft report at a forthcoming meeting;
- European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT): Working methods of the Committee (Rapporteur: Mr Jaskiernia, Poland, SOC): invited the Rapporteur to submit a preliminary draft report at a forthcoming meeting;
- European Commission for Democracy through Law ("Venice Commission") (Representative of the Committee: Mr Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC): heard a statement by the representative of the Committee on the meeting of the Venice Commission held on 15-16 December 2000;
- Racism and xenophobia in cyberspace: appointed Mr Tallo (Estonia, SOC) Rapporteur
- Constitutional situation in Ukraine (Rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee: Mrs Wohlwend, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD): heard a statement by the Rapporteur of the Monitoring Committee; was informed of the activities of the Committee on Culture and Education in the field of the freedom of the media; and decided to ask that an urgent debate be held on the threats to freedom of expression and to the functioning of parliamentary democracy in Ukraine during the January 2001 part-session;
- Transfer of sentenced persons (Rapporteur: Mr Enright, Ireland, EPP/CD): decided to invite representatives of the "Association for Prisoners abroad" to one of its meetings during the January 2001 part-session;
- Compensation for non-Slovenian investors in the former Ljubljanska Banka (Rapporteur: Mr Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC): decided to authorise the Rapporteur to consult Professor de Waart (Netherlands) as consultant-expert on the matter;
- Standards for the political handling of dealings concerning property after World War II (Rapporteur: Mr Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC): decided to authorise the Rapporteur to consult Professors Blumenwitz (Germany) and de Waart (Netherlands) as consultant-experts on the matter;
- Case of Grigori Pasko: invited Mr Shishlov (Russia, LDR) to draft a motion for a recommendation or a resolution;
- Next meetings:
· Strasbourg, during the Assembly's January 2001 part-session
· Paris, Monday 5 March 2001, at 9 h 30 (National Assembly)
· Paris, Tuesday 6 March 2001, at 9 h 30 (hearing on cyber-crime) (National Assembly)
Allard A. Plate, Tanja Kleinsorge, David Cupina