İNSAN HAKLARI - Deneme Sınavı - 6

If a settlement is not reached, the Commission shall, within the time limit established by its Statute, draw up a report setting forth the facts and stating its conclusions. If the report, in whole or in part, does not represent the unanimous agreement of the members of the Commission, any member may attach to it a separate opinion. The written and oral statements made by the parties in accordance with paragraph 1.e of Article 48 shall also be attached to the report. 2. The report shall be transmitted to the states concerned, which shall not be at liberty to publish it. 3. In transmitting the report, the Commission may make such proposals and recommendations as it sees fit. Thus, the correct answer is B.

Brief History The CoE, which introduces itself as “the continent’s leading human rights organization” was founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London that officially “constitute the Statute of the Council of Europe”.

The Statute of the CoE is signed on 5 May 1949 by ten States, namely Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

 Iceland, Greece, West Germany and Turkey joined the original signatories within a year and therefore regarded by some as founding members. The Council has 47 members as of 2019. Canada, Vatican, Japan, Mexico and the US are Observer States, whereas Israel is Observer to the Parliamentary Assembly.

The Council of Europe has 47 members as of 2019. Canada, Vatican, Japan, Mexico and the US are Observer States, whereas Israel is Observer to the Parliamentary Assembly

The Statute of the CoE is signed on 5 May 1949 by ten States, namely Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Iceland, Greece, West Germany and Turkey joined the original signatories within a year and therefore regarded by some as founding members. The Council has 47 members as of 2019. Canada, Vatican, Japan, Mexico and the US are Observer States, whereas Israel is Observer to the Parliamentary Assembly.

The Secretary-General, who is elected for a term of five years by the Parliamentary Assembly, leads and represents the Council.

The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), which is generally seen as the “public face” and even the “motor” of the Council. The Assembly consists of 324 members of parliament from the 47 member States representing some 800 million people. Unlike the Parliament of the EU, these members are not directly elected by the peoples of the members but arerather delegations assigned from among the national parliamentarians of member States.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECrtHR) is undoubtedly the main organ of the CoE in terms of human rights protection.

There are also three-judge formations. Their previous role to give the admissibility decision is cut down with Protocol 14 which has entered into force in 2010. For Protocol 14 has introduced a new body, namely single-judge formations (Article 6, Protocol 14), that primarily give the admissibility decisions.

Although the official languages of the Court are English and French, applications may be submitted in any one of the official languages of the States Parties. However, the proceedings are conducted, and the decisions and judgements are published, in English and/or French.

A State found guilty of a violation of human rights is generally under an obligation to take two kinds of remedial measures. Whereas “individual measures” require repairing the wrong by compensating the victim, “general measures” are intended to improve the legal situation at the domestic level so that similar violations are not repeated in the future and further violations are prevented (Kicker, 2010, 50).

The Statute of the CoE is signed on 5 May 1949 by ten States, namely Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Iceland, Greece, West Germany and Turkey joined the original signatories within a year and therefore regarded by some as  foundingmembers. The Council has 47 members as of 2019. Canada, Vatican, Japan, Mexico and the US are Observer States, whereas Israel is Observer to the Parliamentary Assembly.

The CoE has a much-praised mechanism that obliges States to secure fundamental rights of not only their own citizens but also of everyone withi their jurisdiction. All of its members are parties the ECHR and most of its Protocols, which are put into force to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The mechanism is maintained by the ECrtHR, which has delivered more than 10.000 judgments since it was first established in 1959.

The Committee (Committee of Ministers) has a crucial role in monitoring the practices of States regarding the protected rights and values. In that vein, it supervises the execution of the judgments of the ECrtHR. It has the responsibility and duty to “consider the action required to further the aim of the CoE, including the conclusion of conventions or agreements and the adoption by Governments of a common policy with regard to particular matters.” (Article 15). Finally, it is the body that decides whether to accept (“invite”) a new member to the CoE.

This “governmental” body sustains a close dialogue with the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), which is generally seen as the “public face” and even the “motor” of the Council. The Assembly consists of 324 members of parliament from the 47 member States representing some 800 million people. Unlike the Parliament of the EU, these members are not directly elected by the peoples of the members but are rather delegations assigned from among the national parliamentarians of member States. However, the delegations must reflect the political spectrum of their respective national parliaments. Albeit being a debate forum that keeps an eye on current issues and particularly human rights related ones, the Assembly holds influential means and instruments. The resolutions and recommendations to governments are quite important in this context. In addition to special reports prepared by the members mandated, it elects the Secretary-General of the Council, as well as the judges of the ECrtHR.

So, although the universal rights and freedoms of the European citizens are -in principle- under the juridical guarantee of the European Court of Justice of the EU thanks to the 2009 Lisbon Treaty (Article 6/1) that acknowledged fundamental rights as “general principles of the Union’s law”, the EU has not developed a particular legal competence in human rights protection. Bearing also in mind the membership conditions (“Copenhagen Criteria”) for candidate states, this attitude of the EU might be seen as a bit confusing and even challenging. Yet this is mostly because the EU basically relies on the mechanism generated and developed by the Council of Europe (CoE).

The membership admission procedure of the CoE is not a very common one. The Treaty of London indicates that “any European State” which accepts “the principles of the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms” may be invited to become a Member of the CoE by the Committee of Ministers (Articles 3 and 4).

This “governmental” body sustains a close dialogue with the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), which is generally seen as the “public face” and even the “motor” of the Council.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law, generally known as the Venice Commission as it meets in Venice, is an advisory body of the CoE on constitutional matters.

The admissibility decision used to be given unanimously by a three-judge committee up until 2010. This effectively meant that even in cases where only one of the three judges had seen some merits in it unlike the other two, the application was declared admissible. Thus the Court was ensuring everyone that even a slight probability of abuse was taken seriously and scrutinised.

However, Protocol 14 that entered into force in 2010 in the of reducing the workload of the Court has made a dramatic, and in fact controversial, change in the admissibility process. The applications are now being examined by a single-judge formation. “A single judge may declare inadmissible or strike out of the Court’s list of cases” and “the decision shall be final”.