Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13905 | 06 October 2015

Jurisdictional immunity of international organisations and rights of their staff

Signatories: Mr Pierre-Yves LE BORGN', France, SOC ; Mr Mohammed AMEUR, Morocco ; Ms Luise AMTSBERG, Germany, SOC ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET PEROT, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Ms Pascale CROZON, France, SOC ; Mr Yves CRUCHTEN, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Namik DOKLE, Albania, SOC ; Mr Daniel FLOREA, Romania, SOC ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Valeri JABLIANOV, Bulgaria, SOC ; Mr Mogens JENSEN, Denmark, SOC ; Mr Niklas KARLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Philippe MAHOUX, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Andrei NEGUTA, Republic of Moldova, SOC ; Mr Michele NICOLETTI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Florin Costin PÂSLARU, Romania, SOC ; Mr Salvador SEDÓ, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Eric VORUZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Klaas de VRIES, Netherlands, SOC

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

International organisations are accorded jurisdictional immunity by virtue of the conventions which brought them into existence, or by headquarters agreements. This immunity allows them not to be arraigned before the courts of the State or States where they are established. But immunity from jurisdictional immunity does not mean creating a place not subject to the rule of law, or of lesser law. Accordingly, a person working for an international organisation cannot be deprived of the right of being heard before a court or of the right to collective action. You should be able to defend yourself both individually and collectively. You should be able to defend yourself effectively without suffering unreasonable procedures and unreasonable delays.

There can be no question that policies at odds with the fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter are developing under the cover of jurisdictional immunity. The Parliamentary Assembly adopted Resolution 1979 (2014) and Recommendation 2037 (2014) on the accountability of international organisations for human rights violations. Following on from those texts, the issue of respect for social rights, both individual and collective, of the staff of international organisations is worth being kept on the agenda, investigated and strengthened.