POLITICS
PACE SUMMER SESSION ELECTS JUDGES TO EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
StrasbOurg, June 23 (AZERTAC). The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting this week in plenary session in Strasbourg, elected Angelika Nussberger as judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Germany. Mrs Nussberger, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected a term of office of 9 years starting on 1 January 2011. Judges are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.
The PACE meeting in plenary session also elected Vincent Anthony De Gaetano as judge to the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Malta. Mr De Gaetano, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected a judge of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of 9 years starting as of the date of taking up office and in any event not later than 3 months as from 22 June 2010.
The President of Ingushetia (Russian Federation) said before the Assembly that he had taken measures to advance human and civic rights and ongoing dialogue with civil society and the different religious communities. Crime, youth unemployment and radicalism nevertheless remain major problems in the region. "Power is not to be served by man, but to be placed at the service of man," he concluded.
In his address to the Assembly, Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic described progress so far to promote democracy, the rule of law and economic stability and development since his country joined the Council of Europe as the 47th member state in 2007. He praised the Venice Commission`s contribution to `the quality of legislation` in his country and stressed his support for reform of the European Court of Human Rights, which would introduce case screening methods and promote the building of stable legal frameworks and independent judiciaries at national levels.