Council of Europe

Mars

Council of Europe calls on Monaco to reinforce its legislation on bribery and to regulate political financing
[29/03/2012] In its report on Monaco [theme I/theme II] published today, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe highlights that the incriminations of bribery and trading in influence suffer from significant deficiencies with regard to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. In particular, current criminal code provisions do not cover offences involving senior members of the executive and members of the assemblies; bribery of foreign and international public officials is only taken into account in the context of combating organised crime. Provisions on trading in influence and private sector bribery also need to be reviewed and measures taken to improve the capacity of Monegasque courts to prosecute corruption offences with a transnational dimension. (more)

13th meeting of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), Strasbourg, 19-23 March 2012
[26/03/2012] GRETA adopted its final evaluation report on Romania which takes into account the comments received from the Romanian authorities. The report will now be sent to the authorities who will be asked to submit any final comments within one month. At the expiry of this time-limit GRETA’s report, together with eventual comments received from the Romanian authorities, will be made public. (More)
List of decisions

Seminar to focus on practical application of Charter of Fundamental Rights, Copenhagen, 15-16 March 2012
[22/03/2012] The Council of Europe was invited to take part in the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Seminar "Bringing the Charter to life - opportunities and challenges of putting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights into practice” which took place in Copenhagen on 15-16 March 2012. Jörg Polakiewicz's intervention can be found here.
Website of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights

MONEYVAL completes its second onsite evaluation visit to the Holy See (including Vatican City State)
[19/03/2012] The MONEYVAL team responsible for the evaluation of the Holy See (including Vatican City State) undertook a second onsite visit between 14 and 16 March 2012. This visit was part of the ongoing process of discussion and clarification of the information that has been provided. The team again met representatives of the competent authorities. The report remains on schedule for discussion at the 39th Plenary meeting (2-6 July 2012). (More)

Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) report on Bulgaria
[16/03/2012] The CPT today published the report on its visit to Bulgaria in October 2010, and the response of the Bulgarian authorities. The majority of the persons interviewed by the CPT's delegation said that they had been correctly treated by the police. Nevertheless, a considerable number of persons alleged physical ill-treatment at the time of their apprehension. In a few isolated cases, the delegation heard allegations of the infliction of electric shocks. (More)

MONEYVAL publishes typology study on Criminal money flows on the Internet: methods, trends and multi-stakeholder counteraction
[15/03/2012] This typology report is the result of a cooperative effort of MONEYVAL, the Council of Europe's Global Project on Cybercrime and the joint project of the European Union and of the Council of Europe against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the Russian Federation. The report analyses the links between cybercrime and money laundering, the most frequently used methods and instruments for laundering criminal proceeds from cybercrime and through the Internet, as well as the risks and vulnerabilities posed by this type of money laundering. (More)
Link to report

Committee of Ministers : decisions on execution of European Court of Human Rights judgments
[14/03/2012] The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe published the decisions and resolutions adopted at its first special human rights meeting for 2012. More information on the execution process and on the state of execution in cases pending for supervision as well as important reference texts (including the new working methods) can be found on the website of the Committee of Ministers, on the special website of the Department for the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, and in the Committee of Ministers’ Annual Reports on its execution supervision. The 2011 report is due to be issued on 12 April 2012.

Cascade Training Sessions on Offending Behaviour Programmes
Antalya, 12-16; 19-23; 26-30 March 2012
[14/03/2012] The Council of Europe is organising three five-day cascade training sessions on Offending Behaviour (Prisoner Rehabilitation) Programmes on 12-16; 19-23; 26-30 March 2012 respectively, in Antalya- Turkey. The activity is being organised in cooperation with the Council of Europe Ankara Programme Office and the Ministry of Justice of Turkey, within the framework of the Joint Programme “Dissemination of Model Prison Practices and Promotion of the Prison Reform in Turkey. (More)

Series of Regional Seminars on European Standards on Prison Monitoring
Ankara, 1-2 March 2012; Denizli, 5-6 March 2012; Istanbul 8-9 March 2012
[14/03/2012] The Council of Europe is organising three two-day regional seminars on European Standards on Prison Monitoring. The activity is being organised in cooperation with the Council of Europe Ankara Programme Office, the Ministry of Justice of Turkey and Local Prison Monitoring Boards in Turkey, within the framework of the Joint Programme “Dissemination of Model Prison Practices and Promotion of the Prison Reform in Turkey. (More)

Action Plan for the Penitentiary and Probation Training Centre
Kvareli Lake Resort (Georgia), 7-9 February
[14/03/2012] The working group charged with drafting a Strategy and Action Plan for the Penitentiary and Probation Training Centre met for its third meeting at the Kvareli Lake Resort (Georgia) on 7-9 February 2012. Two international and one local expert of the Council of Europe have contributed to the development of the document. The work of the group focused on further development of the draft Strategy and Action Plan, in line with the standards of the Council of Europe. (More)

The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) visits Malta
[06/03/2012] A delegation of the GRETA carried out a country visit to Malta from 28 February to 2 March 2012. The visit was organised in the context of the first round of evaluation of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2010-2013). (More)

Ukraine: Council of Europe concerned about ill-treatment by the police and detention conditions
[12/03/2012] The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) today expressed concern over the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police in Ukraine. Visiting police and pre-trial establishments from 29 November to 6 December 2011, the CPT delegation received numerous allegations from detained persons (including women and juveniles) that they had been subjected to physical ill-treatment at the time of arrest or during subsequent questioning by police officers. In a number of cases, the ill-treatment alleged was of such a severity that it could be considered to amount to torture. (More)

The European Committee of Social Rights concludes that criminal investigation officers in Portugal do not receive sufficient remuneration for overtime work
[06/03/2012] The decision on the merits of the European Committee of Social Rights with regard to the case European Council of Police Trade Unions v. Portugal, Complaint No. 60/2010, became public on 5 March 2012. This case concerns remuneration for overtime work performed by police officers in the Portuguese criminal police force. (More)