Political responsibility and criminal responsibility of politicians and the category of political prisoner in the perception of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

Abstract

The author analyses the position of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) toward the questions of the responsibility of politicians. In resolution 1950 (2013) Keeping political and criminal responsibility separate PACE considers that “democracy and rule of law require that politicians will be effectively protected from criminal prosecutions based on their decisions. Political decisions should be subject to political responsibility, the ultimate judges being the voters”. The distinctions between political decision-making and criminal acts must be based on national constitutional and criminal law, which in turn should respect the principles, in line with the conclusions of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). In resolution 19000 (2012) The definition of political prisoners PACE reaffirms its support for the criteria of “political prisoner” elaborated in 2001 by a group of independent experts of the CoE Secretary General, mandated to assess cases of alleged political prisoners in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of accession of the two States to Organization. Also PACE resolutions represent only so-called “soft law” (not legally binding), they have an important moral and political meaning, and may open the way for the further conventional regulation.