The News (Site updated Friday, November 20, 2009 | 18:30)
Secretary General welcomes EU president and foreign representative
[20/11/2009 11:00:00] In a statement made on 19 November Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland congratulates the new President of the European Union Herman Van Rompuy and the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton. ''The new reform Treaty will open a new chapter on European Union - Council of Europe relations, with the possible accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights,'' he said.
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Switzerland takes over from Slovenia as Chair of the Committee of Ministers
[10/11/2009 10:00:00] Under the joint chairmanship of Samuel Žbogar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, and Micheline Calmy-Rey, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, the Ministers’ Deputies met on 18 November in Strasbourg.
(more ...) File Photo Gallery Video of the press conference Meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies
Secretary General appoints Gérard Stoudmann of Switzerland Special Representative for organisational development and reform
[20/11/2009 15:00:00] Responding to repeated calls by the Committe of Ministers for internal reform of the organisation, Thorbjørn Jagland has named the former OSCE Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions (ODIHR) to be his Special Representative for Organisational Development and Reform.
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20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: Children are not mini-persons with mini-rights
[20/11/2009 16:00:00] At the high level meeting of the intergovernmental group ''L'Europe de l'Enfance'' in Stockholm, on 20 November, Deputy Secretary General stressed the Council of Europe's strong commitment to the well-being and the best interests of children and the protection of their fundamental rights. ''The starting point for our work is in recognising that children are not mini-persons with mini-rights - in fact they need more protection, not less'', she added.
(more ...) High level meeting - 'L'Europe de l'Enfance'
Adoption of Council of Europe Guidelines on the protection of children from violence
[18/11/2009 15:00:00] In their joint statement on 18 November following the adoption of Guidelines on the protection of children from violence, the outgoing Slovenian Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Samuel Žbogar, and the incoming Swiss Chair, Micheline Calmy-Rey, stressed the clear obligation of states to protect children from all forms of violence at all times and in all settings.
(more ...) Joint statement Full text of the guidelines
Council of Europe and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights joint statement
[20/11/2009 15:00:00] The Council of Europe and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) celebrated on 20 November the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention has gone a long way to improving the protection of children, who are particularly vulnerable and therefore deserve special protection by all actors.
Joint Statement
Thomas Hammarberg: ''UN Child Rights treaty 20 years on, implementation still not satisfactory''(more ...) Viewpoint
Bern Convention marks its 30th anniversary
[20/11/2009 11:00:00] The Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats Convention, known as ''Bern Convention'', will celebrate its 30th anniversary, during its annual Standing Committee meeting to be held in Bern from 23 to 26 November.
(more ...) File 'Sustainable development'
Congress welcomes the plan to improve Kurdish rights in Turkey
[17/11/2009 15:00:00] ''We are aware that this is a historic opportunity not only for Turkey but for Europe as a whole. The Congress would like to act accordingly and to give the necessary support to the Turkish government,'' Congress Acting President Ian Micallef said on 17 November, in an interview during the Ministerial Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands.
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Ian Micallef: ''The new agreement consolidates the partnership between the Congress and the Committee of the Regions''(more ...) Speech
Conference on the challenges in adoption procedures in Europe
[16/11/2009 09:30:00] At the occasion of a conference organised in Strasbourg on 30 November and 1 December, the Council of Europe and the European Commission will urge European countries to take steps to ensure the best interests of the child in adoption procedures. It will bring together law practitioners and institutions or associations concerned with the adoption of children.
Photo: Shutterstock(more ...) Conference website
Reactions to Russian Constitutional Court decision on death penalty
Committee of Ministers Chair reacts to moratorium on death penalty in Russia
[19/11/2009 15:00:00] ''I strongly hope that Russia will now transform the existing moratorium on executions into de jure abolition of the death penalty and ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights,'' said the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, on 19 November, following the declaration by the Russian Constitutional Court that no death penalty sentence can be pronounced or applied in Russia.
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Secretary General welcomes death penalty declaration
[19/11/2009 14:30:00] Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland warmly welcomed the declaration of the Constitutional Court of Russia which ruled out the use of the death penalty. ''The death penalty is an unacceptable form of punishment and its abolition is a commitment of all member States of the Council of Europe'', he said in his statement on 19 November.
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PACE President reacts to Russian Constitutional Court decision on death penalty
[19/11/2009 15:30:00] ''This is good news – and another step in the right direction,'' said the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Lluís Maria de Puig, reacting to the decision of Russia’s Constitutional Court concerning the death penalty.
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Lluís Maria de Puig congratulates new EU President and Foreign Affairs Chief
[20/11/2009 18:00:00] The Assembly President stressed on 20 November the ''common aim'' of the two bodies, the EU and the Council of Europe, to create a stronger European identity, built around common values, and invited them to address the Assembly soon.
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Official visit by Lluís Maria de Puig to Hungary
[19/11/2009 16:30:00] The Assembly President, will be making an official visit to Hungary from 23 to 25 November. He is scheduled to hold meetings with President László Sólyom, the Speaker of the National Assembly Béla Katona, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, the State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry Vilmos Szabó, and with the State Secretary, Head of the Foreign Affairs’ Office Péter Sárdi.
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Assembly makes pre-electoral visit to Ukraine(more ...)
The Assembly Standing Committee to meet in Bern(more ...)
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger calls for clarity over death in prison of Russian lawyer(more ...)
Opinion on the impartiality of justice
[20/11/2009 18:00:00] In a joint opinion by the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) adopted on 20 November in Ljubljana (Slovenia), the Council of Europe underlined that the development throughout Europe of an independent, effective and good-quality justice system, was central to its policies in the sphere of justice.
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Manual on the wearing of religious symbols in public areas (2009)
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Switzerland takes over from Slovenia as Chair of the Committee of Ministers
Secretary General appoints Gérard Stoudmann of Switzerland Special Representative for organisational development and reform
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: Children are not mini-persons with mini-rights
Bern Convention marks its 30th anniversary
Congress welcomes the plan to improve Kurdish rights in Turkey
Conference on the challenges in adoption procedures in Europe
Committee of Ministers Chair reacts to moratorium on death penalty in Russia
Secretary General welcomes death penalty declaration
PACE President reacts to Russian Constitutional Court decision on death penalty
[03/11/2009 18:00:00] The Council of Europe called for greater protection and respect for human rights, rule of law and democracy on the Internet at the 2009 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on 15-18 November in Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt).
Photo: Shutterstock
