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 suivant

i. - Resolution 1115 (1997)

on the setting up of an 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), 1698 (2009), 1710 (2010), 1936 (2013), 2018 (2014), 2261 (2019) and 2325 (2020))

1. The Parliamentary Assembly stresses that it is important for the Council of Europe to ensure full compliance with the undertakings made by all its member states, in a spirit of co-operation and non-discrimination.
2. At present the Assembly procedure for monitoring the obligations and commitments of member states is governed by Order No. 508 (1995).
3. It emphasises that several general committees are competent for many questions relating to member states’ obligations and commitments and that the monitoring procedure established by Order No. 508 has created a considerable workload for the committees concerned.
4. It therefore decides to constitute an Assembly committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (“Monitoring Committee”).
5. The Monitoring Committee shall be responsible for verifying 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 Council of Europe conventions to which they are parties, as well as the honouring of the commitments entered into by the authorities of member states upon their accession to the Council of Europe.
6. This committee, whose terms of reference are appended, shall be composed of sixty-five (at present 85) members of the Assembly and of the chairpersons of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. In derogation of Rule 44.5. , there shall be no alternates for the committee.
7. Nominations shall be drawn up by the political groups of the Assembly and addressed to the President of the Assembly who shall submit them to the Bureau. To enable the Bureau to arrive at the desired balance in drawing up the final list, more names can be proposed than the number of places on the list.
8. On the basis of the list of candidates, the Bureau shall appoint the sixty-five (currently 85) members by applying the apportionment ratio based on the so-called “D’Hondt principle”. The Bureau shall also aim at ensuring a regional balance. Not more than two members of a national delegation from a state under monitoring procedure or involved in a post-monitoring dialogue may sit on the Monitoring Committee. The political groups are invited to ensure that no more than four members of the same national delegation of a country not under a monitoring procedure or involved in a post-monitoring dialogue sit on the Monitoring Committee. The appointments shall be submitted to the Assembly for ratification.
9. In line with Rule 50.1. , unless otherwise specified, the Monitoring Committee shall appoint two rapporteurs, from different countries and political groups, to prepare country-specific reports on the honouring of obligations and commitments, reports on the functioning of democratic institutions, reports on the post-monitoring dialogue and reports on periodic reviews.
10. When a monitoring procedure is initiated, two members of the parliamentary delegation of the member state concerned (to represent the governing majority and the opposition) shall be invited to take part, without the right to vote, in the relevant debates of the committee unless one or both are already represented on the committee. By analogy with Rule 6, paragraph 8 (now Rule 10 ), no member of the parliamentary delegation of the member state concerned shall participate in a vote on any question concerning this state.
11.1. The Monitoring Committee shall appoint two of its members co-rapporteurs in respect of each member state for which a monitoring procedure is initiated. Without prejudice to Rule 50.1. of the Rules of Procedure, the co-rapporteurs shall be appointed on the basis of the following criteria:
— no co-rapporteur shall deal with more than one state at the same time;
— no co-rapporteur shall belong to a neighbouring state or to a state with a special relationship with the state being monitored;
— the two co-rapporteurs shall come from different countries and belong to different political groups.
11.2. In respect of each member state under monitoring, the co-rapporteurs shall be appointed for no longer than five years. No member of the committee may be re-appointed co-rapporteur for a given state under the monitoring procedure within five years of the end of his or her previous term of office for the same state.
11.3. As far as possible, the committee should avoid replacing at the same time both co-rapporteurs engaged in a monitoring procedure with respect to a given state.
11.4. In the interest of the smooth running of the monitoring procedure, the committee may decide to extend, where appropriate and feasible, the term of office of one of the co-rapporteurs by a maximum of six months, in particular, in order to enable the latter to present a report which has already been included in the agenda of an Assembly part session.
12.1. The term of office of the co-rapporteurs for post-monitoring dialogue shall be no longer than five years. No member who was previously engaged in the monitoring procedure with respect to a given state may be appointed co-rapporteur on the post-monitoring dialogue with the same state unless the Monitoring Committee decides otherwise.
12.2. No member of the committee may be re-appointed co-rapporteur for a given state engaged in post-monitoring dialogue within five years of the end of his or her previous term of office for dialogue with the same state.
12.3. In the interest of the smooth running of the post-monitoring dialogue, the committee may decide to extend, where appropriate and feasible, the term of office of a corapporteur by a maximum of six months, in order to enable the latter to present a report which has already been included in the agenda and order of business of an Assembly part session.
13. The Assembly may penalise persistent failure to honour obligations and commitments accepted, and lack of co-operation in its monitoring process, by adopting a resolution and/or a recommendation, by the non-ratification of the credentials of a national parliamentary delegation at the beginning of its next ordinary session or by the annulment of ratified credentials in the course of the same ordinary session in accordance with Rule 6 (now Rules 6 to 10) of the Rules of Procedure. Should the member state continue not to respect its commitments, the Assembly may address a recommendation to the Committee of Ministers requesting it to take the appropriate action in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of the Statute of the Council of Europe.
14. The Assembly instructs the Monitoring Committee to report to it once a year on the general progress of the monitoring procedures.
15. The Assembly also decides to amend as follows its Rules of Procedure:

i. in Rule 43 (now Rule 44 ), at the end of paragraph 1, to add the following text:

“Committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (number of seats: 65 )”;

ii. in Rule 43(now Rule 44 ), after paragraph 2, to add the following new paragraph:

“3. In accordance with Resolution 1115 (1997), the Assembly shall set up a committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by member states of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee).”

16. This resolution abrogates Order No. 508. It shall enter into force on the last day of the second part of the Assembly 1997 Ordinary Session (25 April 1997). In the meantime and as from the adoption of the present resolution, no monitoring procedure may be initiated on the basis of Order No. 508.