The second working day of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe focused on the discussion on the Request for opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary.

In the introductory part it was emphasised that on 25 April 2013, the Monitoring Committee proposed opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, while on 30 May 2013 the Bureau in Yerevan did not support the Request for opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary

In the Resolution adopted today, with 134 votes “for”, 38 “against” and 24 “abstain”, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided not to open a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, but stated that it would carefully monitor situation and activities which were to be undertaken by Hungary authorities regarding the fulfilment of the tasks given to them, due to the fact that serious concerns were expressed on the level of Hungarian adhering to the standards of the Council of Europe

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also referred to the Opinion of the Venice Commission on amendments to the Constitution of Hungary and urged Hungarian authorities, together with the Venice Commission, to solve problems and implement recommendations given in the Opinion of the Venice Commission, stressing that the constitutional framework should be stable and based on broad social and political consensus.

The Assembly voiced concerns on decrease of the democratic balance system (check and balances) between citizens and branches of power, being a result of new constitutional framework in Hungary, which decreased responsibility and monitoring over the work of numerous state institutions and regulatory bodies. It invited Hungary to continue reforms, bearing in mind that as a member of the Council of Europe it had pledged to respect democratic values and standards, thus the level of fulfilling recommendations contained both in the Opinion of the Venice Commission and Resolution adopted today, would be a subject of attention in the following period.

Presently, out of 47 member states of the Council of Europe, ten (Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine) are in the monitoring process, while four are subjects of post-monitoring (Bulgaria, Monaco, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey).

In addition to this topic, there was a debate on Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Iceland, Lithuania, Slovak Republic, the situation in the Middle East and Evaluation of the partnership for democracy in respect of the Parliament of Morocco.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected Mr Róbert Ragnar SPANÓ in respect of Iceland and Mr Egidijus KŪRIS in respect of Lithuania as judges to the European Court of Human Rights. Theyobtained an absolute majority of the votes cast and are elected judge for a term of office of nine years as from 1 November 2013.

During the discussion on Middle East and conflict between Israel and Palestine, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, expressed support to establishment of the two democratic and pluralistic states. The Assembly believes that, in addition to status issues, it is necessary to create conditions for all people, Arabs and Jews, Israel and Palestine citizens, to fully and equally enjoy all rights in accordance with principles of democracy and rule of law.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on the basis of the Report of Mr Pietro MARCENARO (Italy, Socialist Group), adopted with 135 votes “for”, one “against” and three “abstained”, the Resolution on the situation in the Middle East, thus inviting Israel authorities to guarantee equal personal rights for all Israel citizens, including Arab minorities, and to put to end arrestment and detention of Palestinians. In addition, the PACE invited Israel to stop building of new settlements and the expansion of existing if those create the so-called "walls of separation," which is necessary to be replaced with safe borders.

Simultaneously, PACE invited all Palestinian forces to reach a truce between Fatah and Hamas, to organise presidential and parliamentary elections and to abstain from violence against Israeli citizens.

Additionally, the parliamentarians expressed concerns regarding violation of human rights committed in the Gaza strip, and called for Hamas to bring the perpetrators to justice and to institute a moratorium on executions

Finally, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called for Hamas to admit the rights of Israel to exist, to support the Arab peace plan, and to stop launching missiles and all types of attacks against Israel.

It is cited in the Resolution that PACE will continue to promote the dialogue between the representatives in Knesset, Legislative House of Israel, and the Palestinian National Council, which PACE would try to achieve via the Sub-Committee on Middle East.

In discussion on the Report Evaluation of the partnership for democracy in respect of the Parliament of Morocco, it was assessed that, following approval of the status of partner for democracy to the Parliament of Morocco, in accordance with the PACE Resolution 1818 (2011), for the purpose of implementation of reforms in this country, in the past two-year period a significant step on the path to democratic reforms was taken, by adopting the new Constitution establishing the basic principles, such as commitment to human rights, prohibition of all types of discrimination, system of division of powers and strengthening of the state institutions, especially the Parliament.   

Relying on the conclusions of Mr Luca Volontè (Italy), Rapporteur for Evaluation of the partnership for democracy in respect of the Parliament of Morocco, PACE concluded that in this manner the cooperation between the Council of Europe and Morocco had been greatly improved, and all in the aim of promoting the process of democratic transition in Morocco. PACE also recalled the active participation of the Morocco Delegation in the work of PACE and its bodies.

Simultaneously, the parliamentarians emphasised the importance of continuation of the reform processes through the adoption of necessary constitutional laws and establishing the planned administrative structures, in order to completely implement everything defined by the new Constitution. Additionally, they called for the Parliament of Morocco to abolish the death penalty and to institute a moratorium on executions. The freedom of assembly and gathering, as well as freedom of expression must also be guaranteed. It was concluded that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will make a new partnership evaluation in two years.

On the second working day, the meetings of Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons; Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy; Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights were held, as well as the joint meeting of the Contact Network of Parliamentarians for combating sexual violence against children with the Committee on Social Affairs and Committee on Culture in which the members of Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to PACE participated as members, or deputy members. Additionally, the members of Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to PACE attended the reception organised by the Delegation of Slovenia to PACE, on the occasion of 20 years of Slovenia’s membership to the Council of Europe.

On the third day of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the discussions on the following topics were announced: Corruption as a threat to the rule of law; Putting an end to coerced sterilisations and castrations, and Equal access to health care.