Directorate General of Legal Affairs - DG I
In the legal field, the Council of Europe contributes to the harmonisation of Europe's legal systems on the basis of standards which are laid down within the Organisation. Its overall aim is to encourage the establishment and development of democratic institutions and procedures at national, regional and local level, and to promote respect for the principles of the rule of law. (more ...)				Upcoming events
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				Last up-date of this portal: 03/10/03 07:52
	Venice Commission Electoral issues : Russian Federation 3-4 October 2003, Moscow The Venice Commission in cooperation with the Information Centre of the Council of Europe in Moscow and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations organises a UNIDEM seminar "Direct democracy: referendum as a tool of citizens' participation in public life".
This seminar will be attended by participants from the Russian Federation, Albania, France, Switzerland and Italy who will examine such issues as organisation of national, regional and local referendums, the experience of different countries and the organisation of referendums in countries-candidates for the EU membership. The seminar will be concluded by a round table on the examined issues. Venice Commission website
Meeting of the Bureau of the Steering Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR), 1st October 2003, Strasbourg The Bureau of the CDLR will examine the implementation of the programme of intergovernmental co-operation in the field of local and regional democracy and to prepare the 32nd meeting of the CDLR (3-5 November 2003). Draft Agenda			Venice Commission : Constitutional Justice 3-4 October 2003, Yerevan (Armenia) The Venice Commission is organising a Seminar on "Basic Criterions of Limitation of Human Rights in the Practice of Constitutional Justice". Venice Commission website
		Committee of Ministers' Chair welcomes abolition of the death penalty in Armenia 29 September 2003, Strasbourg By depositing with the Secretary General the ratification instruments for Protocol No 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights abolishing the death penalty in peacetime, the country's foreign minister, Vartan Oskanian, had just made its Parliament's historic decision to abolish the death penalty in Armenia irreversible, the Committee of Ministers' Chair, Nicolae Dudau, said today. He expressed satisfaction that Armenia's political undertaking when it joined the Council in January 2001 had now been given legal force. (more ...)
Meeting of the Committee of experts on the framework and structure of local and regional government (LR-FS) 29-30 September 2003, Strasbourg The Committee will meet to prepare draft legal instruments of different kinds (drafts for a recommendation and for a convention) on regional self-government. These drafts will subsequently be reviewed by the Steering Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) at its meeting in November 2003. Draft Agenda
	PACO Regional Seminar on Judicial Networking: Focus on Witness Protection, Trafficking in Human Beings and Regional Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe 25-27 September 2003, Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) The Seminar is organised by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, within the framework of the PACO programme. In addition to the update of the cooperation manual, this seminar will address specific issues of international judicial cooperation, changes and developments in each country in this field, the question of protection of witnesses in relation to acts of corruption, organised crime, and in particular of trafficking in human beings. Special file
Georgia - Electoral questions 22-24 September 2003, Tbilissi (Georgia) In view of the parliamentary elections in Georgia on 2 November 2003, the Venice Commission organises an electoral training workshop for members of electoral administrations, judges dealing with electoral litigations, observers, and proxies. The training will focus on three stages of the electoral process: the pre-electoral period (electoral campaign, role of electoral administrations), the election day (duties and responsibilities of voters, electoral administrations, observers and proxies), and counting and electoral litigation procedures. At the last day of the training a mock vote and counting will be conducted at a polling station, specifically created for this occasion. Venice Commission website			Latest publications on organised crime from the Group of experts on criminal law and criminological aspects of organised crime (PC-S-CO) 19 September 2003, Strasbourg Two new Best Practice Surveys, on "Cross border cooperation in the combating of organised crime" and "Preventive legal measures against organised crime respectively" are now published. The publications are available in PDF format. Best Practice Survey N°5: Cross border cooperation in the combating of organised crime Best Practice Survey N°9 : Preventive legal measures against organised crime "Fight against organised crime" Website