Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers

Armenia hands over chairmanship to Austria

Strasbourg, 14.11.2013 - The Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe passed from Armenia to Austria today, at a meeting at the Organisation's Strasbourg headquarters, attended by representatives of its 47 member States.

Before handing over the chairmanship to his successor, the outgoing Chair Edward Nalbandian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Armenia, gave an overview of his country's achievements during its chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.

The new Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Michael Spindelegger, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria, presented the priorities of the Austrian chairmanship which will run for six months as of today.

At a brief ceremony during the meeting, Minister Spindelegger solemnly handed over to the Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, the instrument of Austria's ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention (CETS no. 210). Austria pledged that, during its chairmanship, it would "promote measures for an early entry into force of the Convention", which requires 10 ratifications. (more...)

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Back 01.10.2013 - Awareness raising conference on the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism

Within the framework of the Armenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, an awareness raising conference on the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (Warsaw Convention, 2005) and a training course for evaluators of the above-mentioned Convention were held in the Training and Research Centre of the Central Bank of Armenia in Dilijan, from 1 to 4 October 2013.

46 representatives from justice, prosecution, and financial intelligence institutions from 28 countries attended the conference. Participants came from member and non-member States of the Council of Europe as well as States Party, signatories of the Convention and also countries which intend to accede to it.

The Warsaw Convention aims to provide for the efficient fight against money laundering and terrorist financing through the establishment of universal approaches for the parties. The Convention includes measures to prevent crime, to define criminal prosecution and confiscation mechanisms, to establish principles for domestic and international co-operation.