Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (January 2023)

(Resolution 1202 (1999) adopted on 4 November 1999) with subsequent modifications of the Rules of Procedure* 

Honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe Retour au sommaire Atteindre l'élement précédent

ii. - Terms of reference of the Assembly Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee)

(as modified by Resolutions 1431 (2005), 1515 (2006), 1841 (2011), 1936 (2013), 2018 (2014), 2261 (2019) and 2325 (2020))

Recalling the basic values which are the Council of Europe’s raison d’être, particularly pluralist parliamentary democracy, which is a political, legal and cultural system based on respect of human rights, the rule of law and everyone’s right to take part in public life, and which entails the active commitment of each individual and their government to values such as equality, social integration, tolerance and respect for diversity,
1. The committee is responsible for seeking to ensure:

i. the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by the member states under the terms of the Council of Europe Statute, the European Convention on Human Rights and all other conventions concluded within the Organisation to which they are parties;

ii. the honouring of the commitments entered into by the authorities of member states on their accession to the Council of Europe.

2. The member states shall fully co-operate with the Monitoring Committee within the framework of the present terms of reference.
3. An application to initiate a monitoring procedure may originate from:

i. the general committees of the Assembly by reasoned written application to the Bureau;

ii. the Monitoring Committee by a written opinion prepared by two co-rapporteurs containing a draft decision to open a monitoring procedure;

iii. not less than 20 members of the Assembly representing at least 6 national delegations and 2 political groups, through the tabling of a motion for a resolution or recommendation;

iv. the Bureau of the Assembly.

4. The Bureau shall refer applications tabled in accordance with paragraphs 3.i and iii above to the Monitoring Committee at one of its next two meetings following their tabling. References to the Monitoring Committee requesting examination of such applications under the procedure provided for in paragraph 5 shall lapse after two years, in accordance with Rule 26.4. of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. The Monitoring Committee, with an absolute majority of all members of the committee and subject to confirmation by the Bureau of the Assembly, can decide not to take further action regarding a request to open a monitoring procedure originating under paragraph 3.iii of its terms of reference.
5. Applications, other than those originating from the Monitoring Committee itself, shall be considered by the Monitoring Committee. Two co-rapporteurs shall carry out the necessary investigations and prepare a written opinion containing a draft decision proposing:
— the opening (or reopening) of a monitoring procedure and instructing the Monitoring Committee to carry out this procedure,
— not to open (or not to reopen) such a procedure.
In the light of the Monitoring Committee’s written opinion, the Bureau shall express itself on whether to open (or reopen) a monitoring procedure.
Subsequently, with regard to all the applications referred to in paragraph 3:
— if both the Monitoring Committee and the Bureau agree to open (reopen) the monitoring procedure or take divergent positions, the written opinion adopted by the Monitoring Committee shall be transformed, by way of derogation from Rule 50.2. of the Rules of Procedure, into a report containing a draft resolution and the Bureau shall include this item in the agenda and order of business of the next Assembly part-session for debate and adoption of the draft resolution. A representative of the Bureau may speak in its name in this debate. The Assembly may decide, if appropriate, to refer the matter to one or more committee for an opinion;
— in case both the Monitoring Committee and the Bureau consider that there is no need to open or to reopen a monitoring procedure, such decision should be recorded in the Progress Report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee. The Assembly shall confirm this decision by a vote during the discussion of the Progress Report of the Bureau. However, during that discussion the Assembly may decide by a majority vote following a request by at least ten members, that a debate be held during the next part-session on the written opinion of the Monitoring Committee which then shall be transformed into a report containing a draft resolution.
The Assembly or Standing Committee may itself decide, when adopting a resolution, a recommendation or an opinion on accession, to initiate a monitoring procedure and entrust it directly to the Monitoring Committee. In such a case, the procedure provided for in paragraphs 3 and 5 shall not be applicable.
6. Except in special circumstances, a monitoring procedure should not commence until six months after a member state’s accession to the Council of Europe.
7. The Monitoring Committee shall examine questions concerning the functioning of democratic institutions in Council of Europe member states, taking account of their statutory and convention-based obligations, in accordance with Rule 26 of the Rules of Procedure. Paragraph 11 of Resolution 1115 (1997) shall apply accordingly.
8. The Monitoring Committee is seized, in accordance with Rule 26 of the Rules of Procedure, to carry out regular periodic reviews of the compliance of the obligations entered into upon their accession to the Council of Europe by member states that are not already under a full monitoring procedure or engaged in a post-monitoring dialogue. The order and frequency of these reports will be decided upon by the committee in accordance with its internal working methods based on substantive grounds, with the objective of producing, over time, periodic review reports on all member states.
9. The Monitoring Committee may be seized, in accordance with Rule 26 of the Rules of Procedure, to prepare a report on a cross-country thematic issue, in close co-operation with the relevant Assembly committees.
10. In accordance with Rule 49 , the Monitoring Committee may set up sub-committees on the monitoring of specific obligations and commitments of member states or groups of member states.
11. The committee’s conclusions should contain a summary of its position and give rise to an official Assembly document including a draft resolution and/or recommendation as appropriate (see Rule 50 ).
12. The committee will state in its reports whether the monitoring procedure in respect of a given country is to be considered completed.
13. A report to the Assembly on the post-monitoring dialogue carried out with a member state shall include a draft resolution which either states that the post-monitoring dialogue should be concluded or establishes concrete deadlines for the fulfilment of outstanding commitments. In the latter case, the failure to meet those deadlines, if so stated in the following report submitted to the Assembly would imply the return to the full monitoring procedure.
14. In the case of reports on the honouring of obligations and commitments, periodic review reports on the honouring of membership obligations, and reports on the post-monitoring dialogue, the authorities of the country in question will be given a six-week period to provide their comments on the preliminary draft report to be transmitted to them by the committee. These comments will be discussed as part of the consideration of the draft report by the committee. No comments by the authorities are required for the consideration of a draft report on the functioning of democratic institutions. Draft reports shall remain confidential until the authorities have been able to give their comments within the aforementioned deadline and the report has been examined by the committee. All other memoranda and working documents of the committee shall remain confidential unless declassified by the committee.
15. The Monitoring Committee may establish contacts with the subsidiary bodies of the Committee of Ministers which are competent to monitor member states’ obligations and commitments, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), and the relevant international institutions.