Commissaire aux droits de l'homme

[11/03/09] "Monaco has made considerable progress in strengthening human rights protection. More efforts are now needed, in particular to overcome possible discriminatory situations and increase privacy protection" said today Thomas Hammarberg presenting his report on the Principality. Assessing the overall human rights situation, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights sets out recommendations to address shortcomings, mainly in the field of the judiciary, domestic violence, children's rights, discrimination, privacy and conditions of detention.

"The judicial process could be further improved by instituting new procedures, especially to give victims better protection, and reviewing criminal laws that are obsolete or inadequate" said the Commissioner. "Court decisions should be more transparent and legislation should be adopted to safeguard and strengthen the independence of judges. The authorities must also swiftly establish an independent body responsible for judges' recruitment, transfer and appraisal."

Commissioner Hammarberg is concerned about the fact that differing rights are granted to native Monegasques, foreign residents, inhabitants of border communes and non-resident foreigners. "Legislation should not discriminate foreigners, in particular regarding employment and taxation. The authorities should make the law on acquiring and transmitting nationality non-discriminatory and review as a matter of priority the legislation that results in cases of statelessness."

Furthermore, the Commissioner recommends enhancing the protection of victims of domestic violence and incorporating the principles of children's best interest and participation in national law, stressing the urgent need to recognise and safeguard the special status of children and their need for protection, including in criminal cases.

On privacy, Commissioner Hammarberg noted that the widespread use of CCTV should be counter-balanced by an increased protection of individuals' privacy, in particular by adopting a law clearly regulating CCTV use, data retention time and persons authorised to view the footage. He also underlined that although efforts were made by the Monegasque authorities to improve conditions of detention, problems still remain. "Conditions of detention in the prison should be improved, in particular by providing more activities and access to daylight. Both untried and convicted prisoners should be allowed to make more use of the telephone and minors should be granted access to a wider range of activities."

Finally, the Commissioner recommends improving the living conditions of persons with disabilities, enhancing the protection of social rights and establishing an independent human-rights structure able to deal effectively with complaints from individuals.

Based on a visit carried out in October 2008, the report, together with the authorities' response, is available on the Commissioner's website.

Read the report