Parliamentary Assembly

Draft resolution

1The Parliamentary Assembly acknowledges the work carried out by the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) in fulfilling its mandate as defined in Resolution 1115 (1997) (modified by Resolution 1431 (2005), Resolution 1515 (2006), Resolution 1710 (2010), Resolution 1936 (2013) and Resolution 2018 (2014)). It commends the committee on its work in accompanying the 10 countries under a monitoring procedure sensu stricto (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine), and the three countries engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue (Bulgaria, Montenegro and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) in their efforts to fully comply with the obligations and commitments they entered into upon accession to the Council of Europe, as well as the monitoring of the membership obligations of all other member States through its periodic review process.

2The Assembly regrets that in 2017, again, the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring procedure have not been able to visit the Russian Federation due to the boycott by the Russian delegation of the work of the Assembly. It recalls in this context that co-operation with the monitoring procedure is an explicit accession commitment of the country.

3The Assembly recalls that, in the light of the ongoing developments in Turkey, and the concerns expressed in that regard, it decided to re-open the monitoring procedure sensu stricto in respect of Turkey so as to intensify its co-operation with the Turkish authorities and all stakeholders in the country.

4The Assembly welcomes and commends the Sub-committee on Conflicts between Council of Europe Member States for the work it has undertaken.

5The Assembly welcomes the positive developments and the progress made during the reporting period in a number of countries under a monitoring procedure or engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue. In particular in:

5.1Albania: the holding of parliamentary elections in line with European standards following the agreement between the main political forces; as well as the continuing efforts to reform the justice system and to ensure the integrity of all persons appointed or elected to public functions;

5.2Armenia: the improved political climate and far-reaching reforms, including in the judiciary, to implement the new Constitution;

5.3Azerbaijan: the recent release of some “political prisoners”/“prisoners of conscience”; and the ongoing dialogue with the Azerbaijani authorities in the framework of the Assembly’s monitoring procedure;

5.4Georgia: the close co-operation with the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) during the drafting of the constitutional amendments, which are an improvement of the country’s constitutional order despite the regrettable postponement of the introduction of a fully proportional election system until after the next general election has taken place;

5.5Serbia: the commitment of the new government to addressing the Assembly’s concerns with regard to the reform of the judiciary and the media environment;

5.6Ukraine: the ambitious reform programme put in place after the “Revolution of Dignity” despite the challenging environment as a result of the Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea;

5.7Bulgaria: the amendments introduced to the electoral framework which resulted in an improved electoral climate for the 2017 parliamentary elections, and the many positive changes to the judicial system introduced by the amendments to the Judicial System Act;

5.8Montenegro: the efforts to reform the judiciary and the justice system in line with recommendations of, inter alia, the Assembly;

5.9“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”: the end of the political crisis that erupted in April 2014 and dominated the political agenda of the country;

5.10Turkey: the establishment of the Inquiry Commission on State of Emergency Measures, which the Assembly expects to provide effective remedies for dismissed civil servants, as well as for associations and media outlets that were closed on the basis of the emergency decrees.

6At the same time, the Assembly expresses its concern about developments and remaining shortcomings in a number of countries under a monitoring procedure or engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue. These shortcomings undermine the democratic consolidation in those countries and are at odds with their obligations and accession commitments:

6.1Albania: the continuing polarisation between the main political parties as well as the parliamentary boycott by the main opposition party, which have affected the reform programme and have resulted in considerable delays in the implementation of important reforms, including with regard to the judiciary;

6.2Armenia: allegations of widespread vote buying and reports of abuse of administrative resources during the 2017 parliamentary elections; recurrent reports of disproportionate and excessive use of force by the police, especially in the context of protests and demonstrations, accompanied by a sense of impunity for such actions;

6.3Azerbaijan: the lack of independence and impartiality of, and interference by the executive in, the justice system; the repressive actions against independent media; the lack of an independent, impartial and effective system to investigate allegations of ill-treatment by law-enforcement officials;

6.4Bosnia and Herzegovina: the failure of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its parliamentary delegation to provide comments on the preliminary draft report on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina, in violation of the country’s obligation to co-operate with the Monitoring Committee; the continued failure since 2009 to implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights related to ethnic- and residency-based limitations to the right to stand for elected offices; the continued failure to address the issue of segregation along ethnic and religious lines in education;

6.5Georgia: the postponement of the introduction of a fully proportional election system in the country until after the next parliamentary elections, which undermines the possibility for a broad political consensus on the constitutional amendments;

6.6Russian Federation: the decision by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation not to allow compensation of Yukos shareholders as ordered by the European Court of Human Rights, in violation of the obligation incumbent on all Council of Europe members States to unconditionally honour the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; the designation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organisation by the Russian Supreme Court, underscoring the abuse of extremist legislation to curtail freedom of expression and assembly, as well as freedom of worship, in the Russian Federation; the reports of abductions, unlawful detentions, torture and killings of men in the Chechen Republic based on their sexual orientation and gender identity; the continuing human rights violations in occupied Crimea;

6.7Serbia: the insufficient implementation of existing media legislation, undermining a balanced media coverage, especially in the framework of elections;

6.8Turkey: the undermining of the separation of powers and independence of the judiciary, as well as a diminishing system of checks and balances, as a result of the adoption of constitutional amendments that are not in line with European standards and under conditions that raise questions about the democratic nature of the process; the lifting of immunity and pretrial detention of members of parliament; the disproportionate effect of the emergency decree laws – including the massive dismissals of civil servants, judges, prosecutors and academics and the closing down of media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – as well as limited access to judicial remedies; the repeated violations of freedom of expression and freedom of the media and the situation of local administrations in south-east Turkey, leading to a serious deterioration of the functioning of democratic institutions;

6.9Ukraine: the hardening of political discourse following the Euromaidan events and the Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, and the polarisation of the media environment, leading to unacceptable attacks on journalists and media outlets; the insufficient balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities in the new law on education in Ukraine, leading to a reduction in rights in comparison to previous legislation; the pervasive corruption that undermines public trust in the political and judicial system as a whole;

6.10Bulgaria: the weak structure for accountability of the Prosecutor General and the frequent use of racist and xenophobic language during the election campaign, as well as allegations of vote buying and organised voting, especially among vulnerable groups in Bulgarian society, during the 2017 parliamentary elections;

6.11Montenegro: the continuing boycott of the parliament by the opposition, which is hindering reforms; the concerns about the state of freedom of expression and freedom of the media in the country;

6.12“The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”: the storming of the parliament by protesters and the continuing ethnic divisions in the country.

7Consequently, the Assembly urges all the countries that are under a monitoring procedure or engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue to step up their efforts to fully honour all membership obligations and accession commitments to the Council of Europe. In particular, it calls on:

7.1the Albanian authorities and all political forces in the country to overcome the political polarisation and to ensure the full implementation of the vetting process of judges and the implementation of the decriminalisation law;

7.2all Armenian political forces to continue improving the political environment in the country through dialogue and co-operation; the Armenian authorities to fully investigate all reports of disproportional and excessive use of force by the police and to establish a genuinely independent police complaints mechanism as recommended, inter alia, by the Assembly; and to adopt legislation to effectively combat vote buying and the abuse of administrative resources during elections;

7.3the Azerbaijani authorities to liberate the remaining “political prisoners”/“prisoners of conscience” and to amend the legal framework governing NGOs with a view to bringing it into line with European standards and to promptly ensure the full implementation of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, including with regard to Ilgar Mammadov, taking note of the decision of the Committee of Ministers to refer to the Court, in accordance with Article 46.4 of the Convention, the question whether the Republic of Azerbaijan has failed to fulfil its obligation under Article 46.1;

7.4the Georgian authorities to consider implementing the change of electoral system before the next parliamentary elections and to fully implement the Venice Commission recommendations contained in the opinion on the constitutional amendments;

7.5the Moldovan authorities to fully implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission contained in their upcoming opinion on “The legal framework governing the funding of political parties and campaigns, as well as the recent amendments to the electoral legislation in the Republic of Moldova”;

7.6the authorities of the Russian Federation to halt the abuse of extremist legislation to curtail freedom of expression and assembly in the Russian Federation; to fully recognise the supremacy of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and to unconditionally execute the judgments of the Court; to fully investigate unlawful detentions, torture and killings of men in the Chechen Republic based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, to hold any perpetrators of such heinous acts accountable and to take effective measures to protect the life, liberty and security of gay and bisexual people throughout the Russian Federation;

7.7the Serbian authorities to fully implement the remaining recommendations of the Assembly with regard to the media environment; to revise the constitutional provisions pertaining to the judiciary and to implement the necessary reforms to depoliticise judicial institutions, strengthen the rule of law and increase trust in State institutions;

7.8the Turkish authorities to fully address concerns and implement recommendations contained in the Venice Commission opinions on the emergency decree laws; to end the pressure on journalists, human rights defenders and opposition politicians;

7.9the Ukrainian authorities to fully implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission in its opinion on the new Law on Education; to increase the pace of the reforms to fight the pervasive corruption in the country and to ensure that these reforms lead to tangible and concrete results;

7.10the Bulgarian authorities to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commission in its opinions on the Judicial System Act as well as on the Electoral Code and to strengthen the accountability of the Prosecutor General;

7.11the Montenegrin authorities to fully implement the legislation aimed at guaranteeing the genuine independence and professionalism of the judiciary and to provide the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption with the necessary means to carry out its mandate efficiently; to strengthen the Special Prosecutor’s Office and its Special Police Unit in order to allow them to deal with the high number of cases before them; the opposition to end its boycott of the parliament and to engage in the reform process, including in relation to the electoral framework ahead of the 2018 presidential elections;

7.12the authorities of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and all political force to address the ongoing polarisation and ethnic tensions in the country, to depoliticise the State institutions and regulatory bodies and to ensure an efficient, impartial and independent judiciary.

8With regard to the preparation of the report on the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland, the Assembly takes note of the visit of the co-rapporteurs to Warsaw. In this context, the Assembly calls on the Polish authorities to ensure that the ongoing reforms, and in particular that of the justice system, are fully in line with European standards. To this end, the Assembly calls on the Polish authorities to continue requesting Venice Commission opinions on these reforms and to address the recommendations and concerns contained therein.

9The Assembly reaffirms the importance of the parliamentary monitoring procedure, and the work of the Monitoring Committee in the democratisation and institution-building processes in all Council of Europe member States. In that respect, it especially welcomes the periodic reviews on the honouring of the membership obligations to the Council of Europe by countries that are not subject to a monitoring procedure sensu stricto or engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue with the Assembly.

10The Assembly takes note of the periodic review reports on the honouring of their membership obligations to the Council of Europe in respect of Estonia, Greece, Hungary and Ireland, which are presented as part of the report on the progress of the Assembly’s monitoring procedure (January-December 2017). It endorses the findings and conclusions in these periodic review reports and encourages the respective authorities to implement its recommendations. In particular, the Assembly:

10.1with respect to Estonia:

10.1.1commends Estonia’s extraordinary e-governance policy and the considerable achievements regarding transparency and accessibility of government and its cyberdefence expertise;

10.1.2welcomes Estonia’s adherence to the principles of the rule of law and congratulates the country on its score in the Corruption Perception Index, which reflects a low perception of corruption by the population. To further strengthen this public perception, the Assembly encourages the authorities to promptly implement the outstanding recommendations of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO);

10.1.3while taking note of the specific historic context in Estonia, and while welcoming the significant steps taken by the Estonian authorities concerning the situation of stateless persons/“persons with undetermined citizenship”, the Assembly recommends further steps to reduce their number by increasing access to citizenship for long-term residents;

10.1.4encourages the authorities to continue promoting the use of minority languages and calls on Estonia to sign and ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS No. 148);

10.1.5while commending the efforts made by the authorities to integrate the Russian minority, recommends that further measures be taken to reduce unemployment and social exclusion among ethnic minorities in the country;

10.1.6calls on the Estonian Parliament to ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 177) and encourages the authorities to implement the outstanding recommendations of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) regarding racist speech and discrimination against Roma;

10.2with respect to Greece:

10.2.1takes note of the adverse impact of the recession and austerity policies on people’s social rights, especially those of the most disadvantaged groups of the population;

10.2.2warmly welcomes in this context the ratification of the European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163) in 2016 and encourages the authorities to make a declaration enabling national NGOs to submit collective complaints;

10.2.3stresses that corruption represents one of the root causes that contributed to the economic and sovereign debt crisis in the country. The Assembly therefore commends the Greek authorities for the measures they have taken to ensure transparency of party funding and to fight corruption and calls on them to fully implement the recommendations of GRECO;

10.2.4recalls that Greece has faced a major migration crisis in recent years, for which it had to assume a large share of the financial burden and for which it should be lauded. It calls, however, on the Greek authorities to end the practice of detention of immigrant children and to intensify efforts to improve living conditions and the integration of refugees and migrants in line with Assembly Resolution 2174 (2017) on the human rights implications of the European response to transit migration across the Mediterranean and with the recommendations issued by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT);

10.2.5notes with regret that the combination of an economic and migration crisis has provided fertile ground for extremist ideas to flourish in Greece. The Assembly therefore urges the Greek authorities to take resolute action to combat racism and intolerance, ensure the effective implementation of anti-hate crime legislation and implement the recommendations of ECRI and the Commissioner for Human Rights. It calls on the Greek Parliament to ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 177) without further delay;

10.2.6with respect to the rights of minorities, reiterates its call on Greece to ratify the European Charter for Regional Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No. 157) and fully implement the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights to enhance the rights of minorities;

10.2.7calls on the Greek authorities to enhance the transparency and accountability of the judicial system as requested by GRECO;

10.2.8remains concerned by the persistent problem of police ill-treatment as highlighted by the CPT and the Commissioner for Human Rights and urges the authorities to take determined action and to reinforce preventive measures to tackle this systemic problem, including the establishment of an effective and fully independent police complaints body;

10.2.9encourages the authorities to further enhance the independence of the media and urges them to refrain from undue political interference in the media environment;

10.2.10calls on the Greek Parliament to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210) signed in 2011 in order to combat violence against women, which remains a serious and widespread problem in Greek society;

10.3with respect to Hungary:

10.3.1while welcoming the repeated expressions by the Hungarian authorities of unquestionable commitment to Europe and its community of values, expresses its concern about reforms that have raised questions with regard to attempts to establish political control of most key institutions while in parallel weakening the system of checks and balances;

10.3.2reiterates its concern about the recent developments showing an increasing stigmatisation of NGOs, in particular by the recently adopted law on the transparency of organisations receiving foreign funding, which causes disproportionate and unnecessary interference with freedom of expression and association, and calls for amendments to the law in order to bring it into line with European standards;

10.3.3urges the Hungarian authorities to reverse the country’s decline in ratings regarding media freedom and the strong political intervention in the Hungarian media market. In this context, the Assembly calls on the Hungarian authorities to decriminalise defamation and to take appropriate measures to increase transparency and accountability regarding the right to access to information;

10.3.4with regard to the judiciary, takes note of the positive steps taken to enhance the role of the national Judicial Council as a control instance; encourages the authorities to continue these reforms, including by adopting measures to minimise the risk of discretionary decisions by the President of the National Judicial Office and to increase the independence of the prosecution service;

10.3.5calls on the authorities to address the issue of prison overcrowding in line with judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and CPT recommendations, and, in this context, urges the authorities to intensify their efforts to promote alternative non-custodial measures and to minimise recourse to pretrial detention;

10.3.6welcomes the authorities’ efforts regarding the minority language policy and the improvement of non-discrimination legislation;

10.3.7while welcoming the progress in legislation and practice to combat hate crime and hate speech, expresses its concern about hate speech and xenophobic rhetoric in political discourse, which is not sufficiently publicly condemned. The Assembly urges the authorities to address this issue, including by implementing the relevant recommendations of the Commissioner for Human Rights, ECRI and the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities;

10.3.8calls on the Hungarian Parliament to ratify the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime (ETS No. 189) concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems;

10.3.9reiterates its concerns about the amendments to the Act on National Tertiary Education which could force the central European university to close down or move out of Hungary, and calls for the review of the legislation in compliance with Venice Commission recommendations;

10.3.10while acknowledging the unprecedented challenge for the country deriving from migration, expresses its concern regarding the non-compliance of the asylum law and practice with European and international standards. The Assembly urges the authorities to establish a fully human rights-compliant asylum system and to ensure that any allegation of excessive use of force by border guards is promptly investigated in an independent and impartial manner;

10.4with respect to Ireland:

10.4.1applauds Ireland for the innovative and participatory process started in 2012 to revise the Constitution by involving the parliament, civil society and Irish citizens, and notes that this has resulted in the organisation of several referenda on constitutional amendments;

10.4.2welcomes, in this respect, the improvement of the legal framework and rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, including same-sex marriages, legal recognition of transgender people and the expected extension of adoption rights to same-sex as well as cohabiting couples;

10.4.3welcomes the progress made over the past decade in acknowledging responsibility for institutional abuses perpetrated against children and women, notably in the “Magdalene laundries” and the “mother and baby homes”. The Assembly encourages the Irish authorities to continue to confront and investigate past human rights abuses and to ensure that redress mechanisms are accessible to all victims, in line with the recommendations issued by the Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Committee against Torture;

10.4.4calls on the Irish authorities to further implement the O’Keeffe v. Ireland judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, in which the Court found that Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligation under Article 3 of the Convention to protect children from abuse, and to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201), which Ireland signed in 2007;

10.4.5In the field of gender equality, welcomes the positive efforts undertaken to promote gender mainstreaming and better participation of women in politics. In this context, the Assembly encourages the Irish authorities to take a firm stance to promote, de jure and de facto, gender equality and expects the constitutional referenda scheduled in 2018 to result in:

10.4.5.1the removal or revision of Article 41.2.1 regarding “Woman's life within the home”, which engraves in the Constitution gender stereotypes which have no place in a modern democratic society;

10.4.5.2the revision of the 8th Constitutional Amendment, so as to make termination of pregnancy with gestational limits lawful in Ireland, enhance women’s rights to reproductive health and facilitate access to legal and safe abortion, in line with Assembly Resolution 1607 (2008) on access to safe and legal abortion in Europe;

10.4.6calls on Ireland to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and to promptly align its legislation;

10.4.7encourages the Irish authorities to ensure an inclusive education of all pupils, irrespective of their religion or belief, notably by adopting the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill so as to ensure fairer and more transparent enrolment policies for all primary and secondary schools;

10.4.8commends Ireland’s efforts to fight corruption and encourages the Irish authorities to implement GRECO’s recommendations, and adopt and enact the 2015 Public Sector Standards Bill and the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Bill which will strengthen the anti-corruption legal framework;

10.4.9also expects the swift adoption of the Judicial Council Bill to ensure inter alia the setting up of an independent statutory council for the judiciary and the adoption of a code of conduct for judges;

10.4.10welcoming the recent recognition of the Travellers as an ethnic group by the Irish Government, encourages the authorities to further combat discrimination against Roma and Travellers;

10.4.11calls on the authorities to ratify Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which it signed in 2000.

11The Assembly welcomes the Monitoring Committee’s continuous efforts to reflect on ways in which the periodic review process can be strengthened and reinforced.