“Our priority line of action, in the framework of our chairmanship, will focus on the protection of rights of persons belonging to vulnerable or disadvantaged groups”, said Lubomír Zaorálek, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and Chair of the Committee of Ministers, addressing the Assembly today. “We will, in particular, examine the legal and practical aspects of the detention of migrant children and its alternatives at a conference which will take place in September in Prague,” he announced.
The Czech Republic has chosen, as another of its priorities for the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, strengthening the rule of law, which “provides the framework in which citizens can enjoy rights and freedoms and seek effective remedies for their violations”. “A well-functioning judiciary is among the most important components of the rule of law,” Mr Zaorálek said, underlining that a conference on the binding effect of judicial decisions of the ECHR, the EU Court of Justice and the national courts took place in Brno last week.
“We identified support of local and regional democracy and public administration reforms as another chairmanship priority,” he added. In addition, the Minister stressed that there was scope for greater synergy with other international organisations, and called for deepening the co-operation which the Council of Europe maintains with the European Union.
In his address, Mr Zaorálek also mentioned the main developments within the Committee of Ministers since its previous session held in Nicosia on 19 May.
