Summary The committee considers that democracy and the rule of law require that politicians shall be effectively protected from criminal prosecutions based on their political decisions. Political decisions shall be subject to political responsibility, the ultimate judges being the voters. In line with its opposition to all forms of impunity, the committee considers that politicians shall be held to account for criminal acts or omissions they commit both in their private capacity and in the exercise of their public office. The distinction between political decision-making and criminal acts or omissions must be based on national constitutional and criminal law, which in turn should respect certain principles, in line with the conclusions of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). In particular, wide and vague national criminal law provisions on “abuse of office” can be problematic, both with regard to Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights and other basic requirements under the rule of law, and they can also be particularly vulnerable to political abuse. As regards procedure, to the extent that charges brought against politicians are of a “criminal” nature according to Article 6 of the Convention, the same fair trial requirements must apply both to ordinary criminal procedures and special impeachment procedures which exist in a number of Council of Europe member States and which call for extra caution and restraint as to the manner in which they are interpreted and applied. Concerning Ukraine, the criminal cases brought against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko have given rise to severe criticism by the international community. The committee is deeply troubled by the manner in which the country’s criminal justice system is abused for the persecution of political opponents. It considers that in both these cases the principles on the separation of political and criminal responsibility have been violated. assembly.coe.int/ASP/Doc/XrefViewPDF.asp?FileID=19744&Language=EN
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 07:10:03 +0000
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