Election of a member of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Andorra[1]
Doc. 7447
8 January 1996
Articles 38 to 40 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS
Letter from the Secretary General to the President of the Assembly, dated 19 December 1995
Sir,
Andorra became a member of the Council of Europe on 10 November 1994. It is therefore necessary to proceed to the election of a judge of the Court in respect of this country.
Article 39, paragraph 1, of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provides as follows: "The members of the Court shall be elected by the Assembly by a majority of the votes cast from a list of persons nominated by the Members of the Council of Europe; each Member shall nominate three candidates of whom two at least shall be its nationals." Paragraph 2 of the same Article provides that "as far as applicable the same procedure shall be followed to complete the Court in the event of the admission of new Members of the Council of Europe".
The Committee of Ministers kept in mind the relevant texts adopted by the Assembly (Resolution 655 and Recommendation 809) when examining the candidatures.
The list of candidates drawn up by the Committee of Ministers at the 553rd meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (December 1995) on the basis of nominations made by Andorra is as follows:
1. Mr Josep Casadevall Medrano
2. Mr Josep Sansa Torres
3. Mr Antoni Lopez Montanya
The biographical notes of the candidates are appended to this letter.
It should be noted that "Members of the Court are elected for a period of nine years" (Article 40, paragraph 1, of the European Convention on Human Rights), but that in order "to ensure that, as far as possible one third of the membership of the Court shall be renewed every three years, the Assembly may decide, before proceeding to any subsequent election, that the term or terms of office of one or more members to be elected shall be for a period other than nine years but not more than twelve and not less than six years" (Article 40, paragraph 3 of the Convention). In order to maintain the balance between the different groups of mandates, the mandate of the judge to be elected would expire on 20 January 2004.
However, I also draw your attention to Article 5 of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention which states that the term of office of the judge to be elected will expire at the date of entry into force of the Protocol.
Moreover, the Deputies have suggested that the urgent procedure, as foreseen in Rule 48 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure, be applied so that the election of the judge in respect of Andorra may take place as soon as possible.
Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my high consideration.
Signed:
Daniel Tarschys
APPENDIX
CURRICULUM VITAE
Josep CASADEVALL MEDRANO
Civil status
- Born 10 September 1946 in Girona (Spain)
- Andorran nationality
- Married, two children (lawyers)
- Office in Andorra la Vella
Qualifications
-Law degree (Madrid - 1978)
Professional activities
-Secretary General in the Municipality of Andorra la Vella (November 1970 to July 1980)
- Lawyer practising in Andorra since July 1980
- Secretary General of the Andorra Bar Association (February 1984 to January 1992)
- President of the Bar Association (1993-1994)
- Reelected President of the Bar Association (1995)
Other activities
-Professor at the Law Faculty of the Spanish National Open University, La Seu d'Urgell, Spain: Roman law and criminal law (since 1985)
- Author of the Car Insurance Fund bill (1991)
-Member of the Bar Association committee to draft the report on the chapters of the preliminary draft Constitution concerning rights, freedoms and the administration of justice (1992)
-Member of the committee to draft the Justice Act (1993) after promulgation of the Constitution
- Author of the bill on bank secrecy and money laundering (1995)
- Author of the State Prosecution Service bill (1995)
Languages
- Catalan (Andorra's official language)
- French
- Spanish
- English (spoken)
- Working language: French
Josep SANSA TORRES
Born in Barcelona (Spain) on 7 June 1954
Civil status: unmarried
Andorran nationality
Office in Andorra la Vella
Master's degree in Law (1976) from the University of Navarra (Pamplona, Spain)
Lawyer practising in Andorra since February 1986
Working language: French
Antoni L�PEZ MONTANYA
Civil status
- Born 9 January 1955 in Andorra la Vella (Andorra)
- Andorran nationality
- Separated, one child
- Office in Andorra la Vella
Qualifications
-Law degree from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1978). Graduation with special distinction.
Professional activities
-Technical Assistant in the Department of Economic and Financial Affairs of the Generalitat de Catalunya (1978-80)
- Assistant in the office of Mr Marc Vila, Solicitor (1980-82)
- Secretary General of the Council General of the Valleys of Andorra (1982-87)
- Lawyer practising in Andorra (since 1988)
Other activities
-Visiting lecturer at the University of Perpignan: The law and political institutions of Andorra (1984-88)
-Founding member and Secretary of the Administrative Council of the "Diari d'Andorra" (1991-92)
-Tutor at the Associate Centre of La Seu d'Urgell, Spanish Open University: administrative law (since 1990) and constitutional law (since 1992)
Languages
- Catalan, Spanish, French, English
- Working language: French
[1]. See Docs. 918, 1361, 1652, 1856, 1968, 2063, 2120, 2272, 2314, 2877, 3010, 3171, 3231, 3240, 3315, 3388, 3461, 3594, 3599, 3700, 3811, 3901, 3915, 3966, 4141, 4459, 4515, 4604, 4653, 4654, 4819, 4996, 5387, 5489, 5498, 5619, 5833, 5861, 5925, 5987, 6083, 6153, 6269, 6407, 6415, 6467, 6468, 6542, 6596, 6601, 6657, 6913, 7021, 7033, 7034, 7207, 7258 and 7330.