Proposals concerning the drafting of a resolution on the double mandate

For the attention of heads of national delegations

 

 

 

The aim of a resolution on the use by Assembly members of their “double mandate”, national and European, would be to underline firstly that having a double mandate could heighten parliamentarians' awareness of human rights, rule of law and democracy issues, thereby helping to promote them at national level, and, secondly, could draw the international community's attention to problems that may exist in a member state or a given region. Double mandates are of growing usefulness in a world where European and national issues are increasingly interlinked.

 

The text of the resolution could call on the Bureau of the Assembly, on the Assembly’s committees, members, national parliaments of member states and on the Secretary General of the Assembly to take different actions. These actions could be as follows:

 

For the Bureau of the Assembly, it could be asked to:

 

-             single out a small number of texts adopted by the Assembly which are to be communicated to national parliaments concerned on the understanding that all delegations would take appropriate follow-up commitments regarding the implementation of those texts in the national parliaments.

 

-             consider introducing an obligation for heads of national delegations to report on the follow-up given at the national level to the resolutions and recommendations adopted by the Assembly.

                                                                   

For the Assembly committees they could be asked to: 

 

-           reinforce their relations with the relevant committees in the national parliaments, above all in the context of the preparation of specific reports.

 

-           monitor closely, in co-operation with national delegations concerned, the follow-up given to adopted texts emanating from committees in the national parliaments.

 

-             pay attention to national parliaments' concerns regarding possible subjects of debate at committee level.

 

-             invite, in justified cases, the Chairs of the relevant committees from the national parliaments to the meetings of the Assembly’s committees and organise meetings between the Chairs of national committees and the Chair of the relevant Assembly committee in order to discuss matters of joint interest which could be followed-up at both national and European levels.

 

-             invite members of the relevant committees from the national parliament concerned, and as far as possible, any national parliamentarians even if they are not members of the Assembly, to meetings and other events of the Assembly when they are being held in the member states.

 

For members of the Assembly, they could be asked to:

 

-         promote Assembly documents and work and, more generally, the values of the Council of Europe in their national parliaments;

 

-         monitor the implementation in their national parliaments of adopted texts by the Assembly and take any necessary action to achieve their implementation;

 

-         inform the relevant committees of the Assembly of topics debated in their national parliaments of interest for the work of the Assembly;

 

For national parliaments of the member states they could be asked to:

 

-             reinforce their co-operation with the various committees of the Assembly in order to establish a degree of coherence among their activities.

 

-              deal with questions raised by the Assembly in their specialised committees and not solely in their foreign affairs committees.

 

-             initiate regular debates in plenary and in committees on the texts adopted by the Assembly with a view to identifying appropriate action.

 

-         promote debates in plenary and in committees on the state of ratification of Council of Europe conventions.

 

-         monitor the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights by the national authorities and take all necessary measures for their rapid and efficient execution and to report to the committee on legal affairs and human rights of the Assembly on follow-up.

 

-             establish a mechanism for considering the conformity of national legislation with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

 

-         seek involvement, at national level, in the preparation and implementation of the programme of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers when the Chairmanship is from their country.

 

-         hold an annual debate on the activities of the Council of Europe if such is not already the case in their national parliament.

 

-          systematically draw up reports on the activities of the Assembly through the intermediary of the national delegations.

 

The Secretary General of the Assembly could be asked to:

 

 -          continue ensuring that the communication methods through electronic means and internet make full use of the new possibilities made available by the technological development with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of communication about the work of the Assembly.