

CoE Rapporteur, French Assembly v.President Waserman to EF on WhistleBlowers' Legal status Query

*Strasbourg/EU Parliament + CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- While EU Institutions were fine-tuning and coordinating their work here, on the much needed Protection of "Whistle-Blowers" (like the famous Edward Snowden, etc), the PanEuropean CoE was Launching an Ambitious, Wide and Profound, operation, extending accross many More Countries, in order to Forge concrete, Operational Legal Tools, Starting with a 2 Days-Long Conference, organised, this Same Week in Strasbourg, by CoE's new Rapporteur on Whistle-Blowers, the vice-President of the French National Assembly, MEP Sylvain Waserman, who spoke Today to "Eurofora" on his plans.
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+Earlier this week in Strasbourg, on Tuesday, EU Commission's Chief Spokesman, Margarites Schinas, speaking in a Press Conference, together with EU Commission's vice President Katainen, (Comp. Katainen's statements to "Eurofora" on other Topical Issues at: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/eucommissionvpresidentonchinaandspace.html), Announced that "the TriaLogue" (between EU Parliament, EU Commission and EU Council) had just reached an "Agreement" on the "High-Level Protection of Whistle-Blowers", following a Proposal initially made by EU Commission's President, Jean-Claude Juncker, on April 2018".(It updated and gave Legal Force to CoE's Committee of Ministers' pioneer and landmark Recommendation on WhistleBlowers' Status, which had been adopted on 2014, i.e. shortly after Snowden's initial revelations on 2013).
++ Shortly afterwards, this Thursday and Friday, at the Nearby CoE, the Rapporteur of the PanEuropean Organisation for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law, vice-President of the French National Assembly, MEP Sylvain Waserman from Strasbourg, Started a Conference with Debates between Legal Experts, Whistle-Blowers, specialized NGOs, Lawers, Judges, etc., and even a Video-Debate with Edward Snowden himelf, scheduled for Tomorrow, working closely Together with the Experienced Head of PACE's Legal Committee's secretariat, Dr. Gunter Schirmer.
UE's 27 or 28 Member States use to Cooperate with CoE's much Wider, 47 Member States' PanEuropean Organisation (including Russia, etc), which, in certain Areas of Legal Instruments "Open" to signature also by 3rd Countries, can Extend even Further, f.ex. in Constitutional Law (via the "Committee of Venice") accross 61 Member States, and/or on "CyberCrime" Topical Issues (via the "Budapest Convention"), where it's also the USA which participate, etc), as well as on Protection of "Private/Personal Data", etc., with a Recent Trend for EU - CoE Cooperation to lean Towards a kind of "Global" impact in the foreseable Future's Horizon, (Comp., f.ex. : ...)
So that it's not unusual in Strasbourg to see often, f.ex. EU's Offices to stand Aside ... f.ex. those of the Holy See, and/or of Japan, (etc)...
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- "Eurofora" invited Waserman to present a Highlight of his on-going work, right in the Middle of that CoE's Conference, on Thursday afternoon.
- "There are 2 Aims", vice-President Waserman stressed from the outset :
(A) "The First is to make a Comparative Study of Various Laws in Europe, in order to identify Good Practices, and, therefore, make some Proposals",
(B) "and the Second is to try to identify Indicators, able to qualify the capacity for Democracy, to reply to the need for protection, etc.
Thus, in all our work we have that Double View :
- (1) Identify Good European Practices, and mainly show how the Decisions taken in the CoE have allowed to make Serious Progress.
These Practices, Nowadays, are very Heterogenous, and Need to be Stabilized, in the Rule of Law".
- (2) But also to find Factual Indicators, very Accurate, which allow to Qualify, by each MP, when he returns back to his National Assembly, and has to transpose EU's Directives, or make (legislative) Texts concerning the Protection (of Whistle-Blowers), enabling him to work with an operational Tool", he concluded.
=> So, Tomorrow (Friday), we are going to Formulate concrete Proposals", he anounced. "Particularly during the Last 2 Sessions, where there will be More and More Proposals".
+ "Afterwards, we are going to have a lot of Work to do, in order to make Scenarios on the way to move Forward".
- Concerning the Timeline, "we intend to use the Time available during the Summer, in order to be able, around September, to present proposals to our Collegues", (MEPs in CoE's competent Committee for Legal affairs).
Thus, "I'd be Glad to have the Result Ready, in a Report (adopted by the Committee), during the forthcoming French Presidency of the CoE, (i.e. between May and November 2019), Waserman concluded, for the time being.
(../..)
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They voted to "freeze" UK Government's draft to put People in jail for 42 Days on "anti-terrorist" suspicion without charge, or they abstained. Don't they look suspect ?
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CoE's debate on UK controversy stirs PanEuropean check of anti-terror suspects' imprisonment
Former Leftists of the Sixties would boil in hot water if they heard PACE's debate on the controversial 42 days detention without charge, currently drafted by the British Government :
A "Socialist" Government, a Socialist PACE Rapporteur and a Socialist Chair of PACE's Legal Committee, opposed a .. "Conservative" amendment (supported by .. Liberals, Democrats, etc), to freeze the measure, in order to protect Citizens' Freedom, by "waiting" until CoE's Venice Committee checks its conformity with Human Rights' principles.
"Left"'s support to Conservative-Lib.Dem's criticism, wasn't enough to obtain a majority, nor to make things as they were back in the good old days, when "Left" and "Right" had a clear meaning, as "liberty" and "restrictions"...
Conservatives and most Democrats were joined by the Left in voting for the "freeze", as well as Liberal Paul Rowen, while Socialist MEP Ivan Popescu, an experienced MEP from Ukraine (PACE Member since 1996-2008) abstained. But most Socialists, added to a few Liberals and EPP's Right, voted against.
Fortunately, someone inside PACE had the wise idea to shorten the Debate for less than 1 Hour, and put it on the Agenda only at the end of an exceptionally busy day, towards the end of the Evening, when most MEPs had already gone to taste wins and foods at various Receptions all around Strasbourg's "European" area : As a result, not even 42 MEPs weren't present..
Socialist Lord Tomlinson accused the leaders of the PanEuropean Assembly, in its highest body : the "Bureau", to "lack wisdom" by deciding to hold a Debate on an issue that neither the Socialist Chair of the Legal Committee, nor its Socialist "reluctant Rapporteur", did "not want to do", ...
Finally, everybody (critics and supporters alike) was happy to agree, in substance, that the controversial measure "may" gravely violate Human Rights, and therefore, PACE asked Legal Experts of Venice Commission to check UK Government''s plans.
But this might take more than .. 42 Days to do, since PACE's Rapporteur asked the Experts to enlarge their study in a PanEuropean comparison of all that is happening on "anti-terrorism" legislation in 47 CoE Member Countries, including Russia, Turkey and Azerbaidjan..
Bad lack : "The existing 28 days’ detention without charge in the UK is, in comparison with other CoE member countries, one of the most extreme : In Turkey, the period is 7,5 days, in France 6 days, in Russia 5 days, and in .. the U.S. and Canada just 2 and 1 days respectively", denounced Democrat MEP Ms WOLDSETH from Norway..
"Numerous respected human rights organisations, including Liberty and Human Rights Watch, have expressed serious concern" "The proposed legislation ...could easily lead to extensive abuses. ...Detention for 42 days means six weeks in which one is taken away from one’s family, friends, home and livelihood only to be let off without being charged. That will destroy lives and isolate communities", she added.
- "3 years ago, the UK Government sought to increase the period of pre-charge detention from 14 days to 90 days. Not long before that, it had been only 7 days. There was a vigorous debate ...and a ...compromise was reached of 28 days. We have to ask whether there are proper safeguards in place to extend the period to 42 days. I suggest that there are fatal flaws", reminded British Conservative Clappison.
- "What sort of society holds someone in detention for 42 days and does not have to tell the person who is in prison why they are there, or explain the suspicions that arose and led to their detention? What sort of society believes that that is the way to treat its citizens? That is an appalling injustice, ...A 42-day detention period will not make the UK safer. Instead, it will be the first step to giving in to terrorists; it is saying that we are prepared to sacrifice our democratic rights and the principles for which we have stood for centuries", criticized British Liberal Michael Hanckock
"Comments made ...by Norwegian delegates are unfortunate", replied British Socialist MEP Ms.Curtis-Thomas, accusing them to "besmirch the reputation of our police force, which is one of the Best in the World", as she said, believing that "there are significant safeguards ...to ensure that individuals are not subjected to unlawful detention"
PACE "has serious doubts whether ...the draft legislation are in conformity with the ...case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. A lack of ..safeguards may lead to arbitrariness, resulting in breaches of ... liberty and ...right to a fair trial". PACE "is particularly concerned that: ..the judge ..may not be in a position to examine whether there exist reasonable grounds for suspecting that the arrested person has committed an offence;"; that "... representation by a lawyer may be inappropriately restricted or delayed;" that "information on the grounds for suspicion of a person ...may be unduly withheld.. ;" that this "may give rise to arrests without the intention to charge;", and; in general, that "prolonged detention without proper information on the grounds for arrest may constitute inhuman treatment", says Klaus De Vries' Report, adopted with 29 votes against zero.
Records don't say if it took him 42 Days to draft his Report, but, at least, he knew why...