The Week Ahead: Key Events and Meetings

The Committee of Ministers will hold its quarterly meeting to oversee the implementation of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights.

Cases proposed for detailed examination during the meeting.

More information - Contact: Andrew Cutting, tel. +32 485 21 72 02

The Council of Europe annual conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services will explore innovative responses to challenges such as prison overcrowding, the need to improve living conditions in prisons, the increasing number of people with mental problems in prison and probation and how to better help offenders reintegrate into society.

Hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Justice, the conference will bring together directors of prison and probation services from the 46 Council of Europe member states and its observer states as well as international experts and organisations.

Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge and State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice of Germany Angelika Schlunck will speak at the opening.

The conference will be open to media. Requests for accreditation should be submitted to the press contacts below.

Programme - Conference website - Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42

The Council of Europe’s body of constitutional legal experts, the Venice Commission, will hold its plenary session. It is expected to adopt opinions on “de-oligarchisation” for Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine; an opinion on the established practice in France that allows the government to force passage of a bill without a vote unless the Parliament votes a motion of no-confidence and two joint opinions with OSCE/ODIHR on the Special Registry and Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations in the Republika Srpska of Bosnia-Herzegovina and on amendments of the German Federal Election Act.

For Ukraine, it is also expected to adopt opinions on the procedure for selecting candidate judges of the Constitutional Court and on the law on national minorities.

The session will be closed to media. Any press releases will be published as of Monday 12 June, and only after the as-adopted opinions will have been published on the Venice Commission website.

Draft annotated agenda

Contacts: Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 6 98 37 64 04; Tatiana Baeva, tel. +33 3 88 41 21 41

3-7 June, Azerbaijan

Liz Christoffersen and Ian Liddell-Grainger, co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, will carry out a fact-finding visit to Baku. Meetings are planned with the Administration of the President of the Republic, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Justice, the Speaker of the Mili Majilis (Parliament), heads of political parties, judicial authorities, as well as representatives of NGOs and human rights defenders.

More information - Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93

5 June, Strasbourg (Palais de la Musique et des Congrès)

In line with the theme of the 2022 World Democracy Forum “Democracy, a new hope”, the Children’s Forum will bring together 1,200 schoolchildren from the region, aged 8 to 10. The children will submit several articles of legislation to create a collective bill promoting or strengthening children’s right to culture, sport, and leisure in France and/or Europe.

More information - Contact: Estelle Steiner, tel. +33 6 08 46 01 57

5-9 June, Strasbourg

In a plenary meeting, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) will examine, with a view to their adoption, evaluation reports on Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Romania, assessing measures to prevent corruption and promote integrity among persons with top executive functions in central government and as regards the police.

GRECO will also consider follow-up reports on Estonia, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom evaluating their compliance with its recommendations on the same subjects, and on Andorra, Austria and Türkiye concerning the prevention of corruption in respect of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors.

An exchange of views with the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Síofra O’Leary, is also on the agenda.

Contact: Jaime Rodriguez, tel. +33 6 89 99 50 42

6 June, Strasbourg

As a way to bring the voices of youth into discussions on human rights and biomedicine, the Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO) will organise a pilot youth forum on artificial intelligence in healthcare, to provide a space for youth to interact with policy makers. The aim of the forum is to provide the Committee with youth perspectives to inform its own work. It will also allow the CDBIO to develop its reflection on the future engagement and consultation of young people in its intergovernmental work.

More information

Contact: Estelle Steiner, tel. +33 6 08 46 01 57

6 June, Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing six judgments concerning Greece, Romania, Russia and Türkiye.

More information – ECHR Website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08

6-7 June, Sherbrooke (Canada)

As a follow-up to the Intercultural Cities Index assessment, the city will host an expert visit. A representative of the Council of Europe and an independent expert will meet a wide range of stakeholders working in fields related to intercultural integration, in order to establish an in-depth diagnosis of the city’s strengths and needs in terms of intercultural policies and governance.

The public presentation of the Index results (morning of the 6 June) will be open to the press upon request. It will be followed by series of restricted thematic meetings, covering areas such as economy and business, welcoming, education, recruitment and policing. The visit will result in a report that will draw the “intercultural profile” of the city and provide targeted recommendations as a basis for subsequent work.

Contact: Tatiana Baeva, tel. +33 3 88 41 21 41

6, 7 and 9 June, Strasbourg

The Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking of Human Beings (GRETA) will publish its third monitoring reports on Azerbaijan (6 June), on Estonia (7 June) and on Poland (9 June) focusing on justice and effective remedies for victims of trafficking in human beings.

Contacts: (Azerbaijan) Tatiana Baeva, tel. +33 3 88 41 21 41; (Estonia) Estelle Steiner tel. +33 6 08 46 01 57; (Poland) Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 6 98 37 64 04

7 June, Strasbourg

Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić will meet OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov. During the meeting, the joint web resource “Collection of Council of Europe and OSCE National Minority Standards” will be officially launched.

Contact: Giuseppe Zaffuto, tel. +33 6 86 32 10 24

7 June, Oslo

Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge will take part in a seminar organised to mark the 20th anniversary of Anti-Doping Norway on the theme of “Preparing for the future of the fight against doping”.

Contact: Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

8 June, Strasbourg

Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge will take part in an Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) round table on the integrity in sport.

Contact: Päivi Suhonen, tel. +33 6 69 76 52 89

8 June, Belgrade (Dorćol Platz)

The launch of new Serbian language version of COMPASS- Manual for human rights education with young people, will be organised within the project “Citizenship and human rights education with young people in Serbia“, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

Head of the Council of Europe office in Belgrade Tobias Flessenkemper, Ambassador of Belgium to Serbia Cathy Buggenhout and Minister of Tourism and Youth of the Republic of Serbia Husein Memić will speak in the opening session. Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe Antje Rothemund, will deliver key-note address “Living, learning, acting for human rights”.

Open to media the event will begin at 11 am. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Programme

Contacts:

(Strasbourg) Tatiana Baeva, tel. +33 3 88 41 21 41; (Belgrade) Marija Simić, tel. +381 63 601 337

8 June, Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 79 judgments and/or decisions concerning Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

More information – ECHR Website, tel. +33 3 90 21 42 08

9 June, Athens

Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić will participate in the 56th Joint meeting of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).

Contact: Giuseppe Zaffuto, tel. +33 6 86 32 10 24

9 June, Strasbourg 

The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) will publish a report assessing the measures taken by Hungary to prevent corruption and promote integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies.

GRECO and Hungary - Contact: Panos Kakaviatos, tel. +33 6 98 37 64 04

9-12 June, Montenegro

A 22-member PACE delegation, led by Reinhold Lopatka, will observe the conduct of the early parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the European Parliament and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The delegation will meet representatives of political parties and coalitions, the President of the State Election Commission, as well as representatives of civil society and the media, before observing the ballot on 11 June.

A joint press conference is scheduled in Podgorica on Monday 12 June (place and time to be confirmed).

Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93