I was. The poly dilute up in strasburg headquarters of the Parliamentary Assembly of the time so a few im not going to which is seventy years old but no one but one but just fundamentally changed the lives of tens of millions of european citizens and changed them for the better. Now this organization indeed the whole continent of europe doesnt have its problems to see just not so the council of europe at its best days behind it are the greatest achievements still to come out of the calmly just world war the council of europe was formed to pull the human rights and the rule of International Law it has forty seven Member States congress eight hundred twenty Million People and the law puts on a budget of approximately half a billion euros sounds to me hichens represents european women sloppy in social Economic Issues in brussels she also happens to be the daughter of irish looked at on the president michel de hichens some of the higgens were here in the the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council Europe when many people point to some truly obvious abuses of the convention by by members of this Parliamentary Assembly by countries which are membership do you think that these breaches a huge problem or do the breaches illustrate that least there is a code which people have to operate i do believe that it is under challenge and it is under erosion on a global level outside of simply the European Court of human rights for example some of the narrative we see in europe now we see discussion of Citizens Rights but of course human rights is a wider thing and human rights is something that is about principle and not simply about a privilege of membership so i do think we need to underscore and protect absolutely the European Court of human rights and that idea of. Common standards in human rights and how they might be enforced and i know that the European Court of human rights has played an often challenging role in my own country and in pressing in laws in certain areas around reproductive rights around l g b t rights and its been a very useful pressure for us nationally so i would be a strong defender of the importance of that but i would absolutely be under no illusion that its not. Under attack and under threat of erosion in terms of the wider sense of the convention and breaches of the convention i know the us. We are seeing more and more breaches of the convention and there is a challenge for the entire council of europe structure now to discuss. What sanctions are appropriate or not appropriate how do we deal with breaches of the convention and those are a part of until theres individual member of the Parliamentary Assembly of some frustration. The sentiments which youve expressed with many of the individual members are somehow and people being reflected in the institutions with the speer frustration you shared is no different can be can be amended and changed the year in which i have been part of the council of europe has of course being rocked by very serious concerns of posts about corruption about the question of vote rigging about the transparency of institutions about appropriate actions at high levels so naturally im concerned about the institutions but certainly in my year here i have miss very passionate parliamentarians. From a wide range of political backgrounds who are consistently and robustly pushing forward. For better practices last may the heavens thank you so much for your cracked dutch politician cox is chairman of the party of the european left in the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of europe has some very clear cut ideas about what the council should be trying to achieve what bournes of your report and its the most far reaching convention which we got a human rights and the rule of law and democracy that has ever been drafted and it has been adopted and adopted means that we also have a course on human rights here in strasbourg that if you feel that you are hurting your human rights you can finally apply to discourse on the verdict of this court are binding so its difficult to crystallize sixty five years into it to hear phrases but how would you assess the progress been substantial. The support we have drafted. And except that finally if we i mean the Member States of the council of europe over two hundred conventions many of them are totally unknown but the most relevant and intervene in the daily lives off eight hundred thirty five million european citizens in a freeze because you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of this organization and what it can do for the future of europe by i am obliged to be an optimist because otherwise there are very good reasons to be a pessimist but i also think that in the end. Both i would governments and all parliaments will realize that the convention based system where you have a flexible position of government stool and off bottom is to join or not to enjoy it is of utmost value for a democratic and a rule of law based europe when members of the league. Reached these these conventions in this huge europe it is very difficult to find. The rules that can be applied immediately from friday. To two to greenland so that every every member state and every parliament and every government has the right to decide whether or when around when to join a convention its a far more flexible system than the European Union thats thats one rule for all and we now have seen that that also creates problems and even gave the majority of the. Voters. The conviction that they had to do to get out of the European Union the system of the Council Field is far more flexible but as you as you probably say to implement it is not easy and verdicts of the European Court on human rights day are binding and indiana and most Member States do do indeed live up to their obligations it takes a lot of time and we have some some bad customs here turkey is a bad customer at this moment always has been a bad. Customer ukraine but also italy and sometimes the United Kingdom they do not do what they have promised to do to sanction to divert excess of the most useless be the least situation in catalonia where quite clearly they will flee groups abuse of conflict of the Convention Human Rights of the freedom of expression of. Dissent to jam of this body that was talking about the spanish constitution the unity of spain which is the best most of the said gentlemen of the Convention Movement that is the business of this organization should be implementation of the convention right now i know that many members feel that. Is the frustration that even the within this body in this confusion of what it should be doing in terms of ensuring that i use an established foundation dont know space in my report i. Explain that spain is special with regard to the convention because after that and the fascism frankly is im in spain spain the new spain the first adopted the European Convention of human rights only a leader a year later it adopted a new democratic constitution so our conventional numerologists and strident in the constitutional system of spain we have democracy and all Member States and we have the rule of law we have a constitution and we have the will of the people these things do not always. Go along there are confrontations does nothing wrong with that thats the mako see the rule of law has to be applied but we also have to listen to the will of the people what do you believe in this report to point the way to making the organization more effective for its next six to five years our heads of state and government have to decide whether they think that we should maintain this system that has served so many people. So well in the past sixty five years and if you want to maintain it and to continue it our governments have to put their money where their mouth this year so lets hope so glad im talking to you because a pleasure thank you very much the bad customer. Could include key Member States such as russia tuckey the u. K. And spain russias Voting Rights were revoked and twenty fourteen after the illegal annexation of crimea the sector general of the was warned that moscow could crash out of the group if russia keeps being excluded from the election of key personnel tuckey could be expelled from the Council Europe preston pursued his threat of reintroducing Capital Punishment following the coup attempt meanwhile the u. K. s under pressure to accept Strasbourg Court rulings on personal Voting Rights while the acting president of the Parliamentary Assembly launched the outspoken attack on state Police Violence against the people of catalonia last october. So now one meal was a member of the eighteen years until the end of last year and thus the longest serving member of the u. K. Delegation what changes he witnessed during these years. A member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the council of europe for eighteen years when that is a quarter of the entire lifetime of this Parliamentary Assembly what are the changes that youve seen over that substantial period of time there are been major changes theres. The introduction of countries into the community which had never been there before. Should be largely internationally written or as individual nations and i think thats one of the biggest things that has caused the changes because they are europe and in particular the Parliamentary Assembly as always we are part of course for joining the European Union and i think a great saying theres never been a nuke. Until accession country into the European Union it hasnt fast been a member of the council of europe the people used to take the mans back to what europe was like we were behind curtains throughout we had all these different individual countries who to run by the soviet state and so on and so forth what you can use a marriage and serve a whole ton of tea and different organizations and of course countries get independence and act and its been the only route into year and of course the contribution not just about those small number of nations which are members of the European Union its about the forty Seven Members to come to your pair in the greater european area but what about all these breaches of the rules of the convention and human rights manifest that many of the Member States i mean a lot of concentration on russia but if you could look at task a we could lose recently spain fairly frequent violations of the of the European Convention and then you have a title task it was the council get up doing about this violation of its own findings that people should not consider that in all these violations take place only in new emerging countries i mean violations frequently because theres been one or two investigations in the u. K. In practices in there and of course there is on a continuous basis throughout the european area but you know its a balance what you do about that how you train our you help do you jim you say you are a member and therefore go on because there are different systems different values case and we hear the voices in the u. K. Saying look this convention the human rights the strasbourg caution of jurisdiction of the courts of of england of the courts of scotland even the something which is causing or above the some meddling in the affairs what just a people who would like in the u. K. To opt out of the convention well i dont think that issued a public order opt out of the convention but as far. And then goes if they do do that it will be in the council of europe or the European Community at all theyll be ostracized i mean the reality is that much of our modern day law is based on those principles and the best example of that is on Capital Punishment you know if you were to stay in and adapt all the policies brought to change your mind and Capital Punishment said you believed in europe if you had i been speaking couple of years ago we had a fight in that both of would have found it unlikely almost incredible that the United Kingdom would be in the process of but exit from the European Union as it inconceivable that the same forces will go the whole hog and back on the council of europe and the European Convention on human rights as well you know in democracy its the most difficult thing in the world you have tyranny dictatorship feudalism and you have democracies the last one is a hard one and if you look back to the city at the start principle of democracy formed on the great with the greek concept of the olive democrat where you know all not a system of democracy they operated there was pluralism they believe that the more educated the you were the more bocce got which to be seems the most undemocratic being ive ever heard however you know what weve got to do trying to forge democracy on a whole series of principles that we can all live with and actually fight to achieve and our meal stingray talking to. Us to look at some great insights from alex and his guests in strasbourg heres some of my thoughts recently the new york effective defense call for the summary execution of that trial in the judicial process of u. K. Citizens had been fighting for the dias tether. If such a policy would ever to be adopted it would make the u. K. The legal prize of europe and would surely almost certainly end in their expulsion from the council of europe all of which of course could be dismissed as despite ings of a novice minister if it had not been for the fact that has much more experience previous essar calls for effectively the same thing before other events overtook Michael Fallon and ended his ministerial career the Prime Minister herself has been thought to favor the ending of the jurisdiction of the court over the judicial systems of the United Kingdom indeed it is thought that her own preferred policy would have been to the mean in the European Union and exit the kinds of europe rather than exiting the good opinion and remaining in the council of europe ironically it is breadth that which has secured the u. K. Within the strasburg institutions as even some fervent back to two years believe that staying within the council of europe emphasizes the point that the u. K. Is leaving the European Union and not europe but how do you kill really reached a level with an institution forced out of the fires and carnage of world war with the United Kingdom in the vanguard of its creation is seen best as a tactical necessity for the time being perhaps the time is come for a new it emphasis on the substantial im purpose of the council of europe the one Political Institution which can be genuinely said to unite a tub of continent. So from alex know the team here at alex thomas so in our First Edition of the new york thank you for what we hope to see will through. Los angeles the city of luxury and fame but also an Alarming Number of People Living in the streets. The simple fact in l. A. Hes theres just not enough shelter even if people on the streets right now decided to come in theres nowhere to come in and its been a struggle. 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