Parliamentary questions | Doc. 12829 | 21 January 2012

Parliamentary questions to the Chairperson-in-office of the Committee of Ministers

Author(s): Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EDG ; Lord Tim BOSWELL, United Kingdom, EDG

Question from Mr Gale

What issues will the Chairperson-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers address in order to ensure compliance by the member states of the Council of Europe with Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights?

The action of the United Kingdom Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers is not limited to ensuring protection of the rights to liberty and to a fair trial as the Honourable Parliamentarian’s question suggests.

The United Kingdom’s priorities focus on improving the protection of all rights enshrined in the European Convention through action to improve the effectiveness of the Convention and its organs. That is why our Chairmanship is committed to continuing the fundamental review of the system which was begun by our Swiss predecessors at Interlaken and continued by Turkey at Izmιr. As the Honourable Member is aware, the United Kingdom will be hosting a major conference as part of the same series later this year.

Question from Lord Boswell

How many questions have been tabled to the Committee of Ministers since the year 2007 which have not been answered owing to a failure to obtain consensus among the member states?

I can inform the Honourable Parliamentarian that the Committee of Ministers, owing to a lack of consensus, has not been able to adopt a reply to 21 written questions out of a total of 90 written questions tabled since 2007. In each case, the Chair of the Deputies has informed the President of the Parliamentary Assembly accordingly.