SECTION
III
ARTICLE
20
The Commission shall consist of a number of members equal to
that of the High Contracting Parties. No two members of the Commission may be
nationals of the same state.
ARTICLE
21
- The members of the Commission
shall be elected by the Committee of Ministers by an absolute majority of
votes, from a list of names drawn up by the Bureau of the Consultative
Assembly; each group of the Representatives of the High Contracting
Parties in the Consultative Assembly shall put forward three candidates,
of whom two at least shall be its nationals.
- As far as applicable, the same
procedure shall be followed to complete the Commission in the event of
other States subsequently becoming Parties to this Convention, and in
filing casual vacancies.
ARTICLE
22
- The members of the Commission
shall be elected for a period of six years. They may be re-elected.
However, of the members elected at the first election, the terms of seven
members shall expire at the end of three years.
- The members whose terms are to
expire at the end of the initial period of three years shall be chosen by
lot by the Secretary- General of the Council of Europe immediately after
the first election has been completed.
- A member of the Commission
elected to replace a member whose term of office has not expired shall
hold office for the remainder of his predecessor's term.
- The members of the Commission
shall hold office until replaced. After having been replaced, they shall
continue to deal with such cases as they already have under consideration.
ARTICLE
23
The members of the Commission shall sit on the Commission in
their individual capacity.
ARTICLE
24
Any High Contracting Party may refer to the Commission,
through the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, any alleged breach of
the provisions of the Convention by another High Contracting Party.
ARTICLE
25
- The Commission may receive
petitions addressed to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe from
any person, non- governmental organization or group of individuals
claiming to the victim of a violation by one of the High Contracting
Parties of the rights set forth in this Convention, provided that the High
Contracting Party against which the complaint has been lodged has declared
that it recognizes the competence of the Commission to receive such
petitions. Those of the High Contracting Parties who t)ve made such a
declaration undertake not to hinder in any way the effective exercise of
this right.
- Such declarations may be made
for a specific period.
- The declarations shall be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe who shall transmit
copies thereof to the High Contracting Parties and publish them.
- The Commission shall only
exercise the powers provided for in this article when at least six High
Contracting Parties are bound by declarations made in accordance with the
preceding paragraphs.
ARTICLE
26
The Commission may only deal with the matter after all
domestic remedies have been exhausted, according to the generally recognized
rules of international law, and within a period of six months from the date on
which the final decision was taken.
ARTICLE
27
- the Commission shall not deal
with any petition submitted under Article 25 which
- (a) is anonymous, or
- (b) is substantially the same
as a matter which has already been examined by the Commission or has
already been submitted to another procedure or international
investigation or settlement and if it contains no relevant new
information.
- The Commission shall consider
inadmissible any petition submitted under Article 25 which it considers
incompatible with the provisions of the present Convention, manifestly
ill-founded, or an abuse of the right of petition.
- The Commission shall reject any
petition referred to it which it considers inadmissible under Article 26.
ARTICLE
28
In the event of the Commission accepting a petition referred
to it:
- (a) it shall, with a view to
ascertaining the facts undertake together with the representatives of the
parties and examination of the petition and, if need be, an investigation,
for the effective conduct of which the States concerned shall furnish all
necessary facilities, after an exchange of views with the Commission;
- (b) it shall place itself at
the disposal of the parties concerned with a view to securing a friendly
settlement of the matter on the basis of respect for Human Rights as
defined in this Convention.
ARTICLE
29
- The Commission shall perform
the functions set out in Article 28 by means of a Sub-Commission
consisting of seven members of the Commission.
- Each of the parties concerned
may appoint as members of this Sub-Commission a person of its choice.
- The remaining members shall be
chosen by lot in accordance with arrangements prescribed in the Rules of
Procedure of the Commission.
ARTICLE
30
- If the Sub-Commission succeeds
in effecting a friendly settlement in accordance with Article 28, it shall
draw up a Report which shall be sent to the States concerned, to the
Committee of Ministers and to the Secretary-General of the Council of
Europe for publication. This Report shall be confined to a brief statement
of the facts and of the solution reached.
ARTICLE
31
- If a solution is not reached,
the Commission shall draw up a Report on the facts and state its opinion
as to whether the facts found disclose a breach by the State concerned of
its obligations under the Convention. The opinions of all the members of
the Commission on this point may be stated in the Report.
- The Report shall be transmitted
to the Committee of Ministers. It shall also be transmitted to the States
concerned, who shall not be at liberty to publish it.
- In transmitting the Report to
the Committee of Ministers the Commission may make such proposals as it
thinks fit.
ARTICLE
32
- If the question is not referred
to the Court in accordance with Article 48 of this Convention within a
period of three months from the date of the transmission of the Report to
the Committee of Ministers, the Committee of Ministers shall decide by a
majority of two-thirds of the members entitled to sit on the Committee
whether there has been a violation of the Convention.
- In the affirmative case the
Committee of Ministers shall prescribe a period during which the
Contracting Party concerned must take the measures required by the
decision of the Committee of Ministers.
- If the High Contracting Party
concerned has not taken satisfactory measures within the prescribed
period, the Committee of Ministers shall decide by the majority provided
for in paragraph 1 above what effect shall be given to its original decision
and shall publish the Report.
- The High Contracting Parties
undertake to regard as binding on them any decision which the Committee of
Ministers may take in application of the preceding paragraphs.
ARTICLE
33
The Commission shall meet 'in camera'.
ARTICLE
34
The Commission shall take its decision by a majority of the
Members present and voting; the Sub-Commission shall take its decisions by a
majority of its members.
ARTICLE
35
The Commission shall meet as the circumstances require. The
meetings shall be convened by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
ARTICLE
36
The Commission shall draw up its own rules of procedure.
ARTICLE
37
The secretariat of The Commission shall be provided by the
Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.
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