See related documentsMotion for a resolution
| Doc. 14172
| 12 October 2016
New threats to the Rule of Law in Council of Europe member States
Signatories: Mr Bernd FABRITIUS,
Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Luise AMTSBERG,
Germany, SOC ; Ms Theodora BAKOYANNIS,
Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Marieluise BECK,
Germany, ALDE ; Ms Eka BESELIA,
Georgia, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS,
Latvia, SOC ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU,
Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Thomas FEIST,
Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Axel E. FISCHER,
Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER,
France, EPP/CD ; Ms Sylvie GOY-CHAVENT,
France, EPP/CD ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH,
Germany, SOC ; Ms Françoise HETTO-GAASCH,
Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Anette HÜBINGER,
Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrej HUNKO,
Germany, UEL ; Ms Mariia IONOVA,
Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Naira KARAPETYAN,
Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Eduard KÖCK,
Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr Teófilo de LUIS,
Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Martine MERGEN,
Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Claude MIGNON,
France, EPP/CD ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT,
Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA,
Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Kerstin RADOMSKI,
Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Nadiia SAVCHENKO,
Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Elisabeth SCHNEIDER-SCHNEITER,
Switzerland, EPP/CD ; Ms Ingjerd SCHOU,
Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Frank SCHWABE,
Germany, SOC ; Mr Mher SHAHGELDYAN,
Armenia, EPP/CD ; Ms Karin STRENZ,
Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Konstantinos TZAVARAS,
Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Tobias ZECH,
Germany, EPP/CD
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.The Parliamentary Assembly has repeatedly spoken out against
infringements of the rule of law.
In relevant Resolutions and Recommendations, in particular
in Resolution 2040 (2015),Resolutions 1738 (2010), 1685 (2009), and Recommendations 1955 (2010), 1856 (2009), the
Assembly stressed the importance of the parliamentary dimension
as regards measures needed to ensure compliance with the standards
of the Council of Europe, especially as regards functioning of the
judiciary.
New threats to the rule of law raise serious questions in
several member States of the Council of Europe, in particular:
- in certain countries, reforms
with regards to the functioning of constitutional courts created
the risk of paralysing their work;
- in Turkey, the dismissal of a large number of judges and
prosecutors at the aftermath of the coup d’Etat attempt risks jeopardising
democratic checks and balances.
The rule of law is the most at risk when the independence
of the courts is not guaranteed. The Assembly should look into these
new threats to the rule of law.