WELCOME ADDRESS BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,
PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “THE PAST AND PRESENT RELEVANCE
OF THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS ON THE OCCASION
OF THE 60^TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS SIGNING”

(Rome, 3 November 2010)

Dear Mr President, [President of the Chamber of Deputies]

Dear Minister, [Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr Mayor, [Mayor of Rome]

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour and a special privilege to speak today at the opening of this international conference dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Indeed, the European Convention of Human Rights was signed sixty years ago in Rome, precisely at the Palazzo Barberini, where our conference is held. Our today’s meeting is therefore very symbolic and takes place at the right moment in the right place. In this respect, I wish to thank the Chair of the Italian Delegation, Mr Vitali, for inviting us to participate in this event.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me recall the role that the Parliamentary Assembly played in creating the European Convention of Human Rights.

During its very first session, in Summer 1949, the Assembly adopted Recommendation 38, calling on the Committee of Ministers to have a draft Convention drawn “as early as possible” to ensure the effective enjoyment of rights and fundamental freedoms. The Recommendation did not foresee just the Convention, but also a European Court.

I like that phrase, “as early as possible”: in 1949 there was no time to waste! And things did develop quickly. By the end of the following year, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was signed.

Today, sixty years later, the Convention provides a comprehensive and Europe-wide corpus of legal norms protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of 800 million Europeans coming from 47 different states. During the last 60 years the Convention has constantly evolved: the scope of rights guaranteed has been extended and the convention protection mechanism has been strengthened.

The European Court of Human Rights is an essential element in the convention protection system. Open to individuals from all over Europe, the Court effectively enforces rights guaranteed by the Convention and its additional Protocols through its legally-binding decisions whose execution is supervised by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. In its case-law, the Court has constantly interpreted the Convention in the light of new realities, thus making it a living instrument adapted to the current challenges. The case-law of the Court has greatly contributed to the harmonisation of national protection mechanisms.

That said, we should not forget about the fact that the main task to protect human rights lies with the national institutions. The implementation of the European Convention of Human Rights is our shared responsibility: while the Court is a last resort measure and an instrument to identify systemic problems which exist in member states, it is the task of the national bodies to guarantee that all European citizens enjoy effectively human rights and fundamental freedoms protected by the Convention.

In this context, I would like to stress in particular the role of National Parliaments in this process: as democratically elected representatives of European citizens, we must fulfil our political responsibilities fully by adopting laws complying with the standards of the European Convention, empowering our judicial systems and making them really effective remedies against human rights violations, as well as scrutinising policies and reform initiatives of governments and bringing ministers to account.

Furthermore, the European Union is currently in the process of joining the European Convention of Human Rights. This will guarantee a coherent, Europe-wide system of human rights protection and we should do all we can to speed up this accession in the months to come. For its part, the Assembly has launched a discussion with our colleagues from the European Parliament about the modalities under which the European Parliament will participate in the process of electing judges to the European Court of Human Rights. In this respect, we will establish a special body to co-ordinate our work.

As members of the Parliamentary Assembly, we must also fulfil our duties by electing the most competent, impartial and committed judges to the European Court of Human Rights, as well as providing full support to the reform of the European Court, initiated at the Interlaken conference. A follow-up conference on the reform of the Court will be held in April 2011 in my country, Turkey (Cisme, Province of Izmir), and I am confident that under the Turkish Chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers the reform process will continue to steadily move forward.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends,

For me, all rights and freedoms guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights are equally important. However, given the new challenges our societies have to face, some of these rights gain a particular significance. Recently, we have seen a general rise of extremist, racist and xenophobic rhetoric, leading to discrimination and intolerance, in many of our member states. In this context, the signing and ratification by all Council of Europe member states of Protocol 12 to the European Convention of Human Rights, establishing a general prohibition of discrimination in the enjoyment of all rights guaranteed by law, acquires a special significance. I would like to recall that, earlier this year, the Speakers of all European Parliaments, meeting in Limassol, on 10-12 June 2010, agreed that National Parliaments should promote the signing and ratifying of Protocol 12 in their countries, in order to ensure the full respect of the principle of non-discrimination. I can assure you that I shall spare no effort in actively promoting the implementation of this commitment during my mandate and I already sent letters to the Speakers of National Parliaments, encouraging them to take steps in this direction as soon as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The European Convention of Human Rights has helped us built a united Europe from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. It is our duty to preserve it and develop further and I am confident that, with strong political will and determination, we will succeed in this process.