CAB129-36 — Page 650

On 6th September the Assembly also considered the report of the Com- mittee on Social Questions. On the same day the report was approved in its final amended form by 85 votes to none, after a very short debate in which no points of substance arose.

47. The following is a summary of the report as approved:

I. The following recommendations are made to Member States :-

Social Security

(i) To perfect their social security legislation to a standard not neces-

sarily uniform, but equally high in all countries.

(ii) To examine the possibility of a general ratification of international

conventions of social security.

(iii) To prepare, in the light of experience already gained through bilateral and regional agreements, a multilateral agreement making the social legislation of Member States completely applicable to other nationals.

(iv) To note the importance of the problem of emigrant workers, and that countries accepting workers from other countries should give them the same social rights as their own nationals.

(v) To ratify as soon as possible the International Convention adopted

by the I.L.O. in June 1949.

II. The following instructions are issued by the Assembly to the Committee

on Social Questions :---

(i) to continue to examine the question of social security after the session, entering into contact with I.L.O. and any other organisa- tions which may seem desirable;

(ii) to organise interchange of information on housing between Member

States;

(iii) to undertake a complete study of emigration.

Report of the Procedure Committee on Breach of Privilege·

48. On 7th September the Assembly considered a report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure on Mr. Dalton's motion (paragraph 32 above) concerning the possible breach of privilege which was constituted by the circulation of a resolution by the European Movement during the general debate on economic questions. The report also dealt with a motion by Mr. MacKay to the effect that any action or attempt made by persons not members of the Assembly, with a view to influencing the Assembly representatives on questions concerning the internal affairs of the Assembly and election to its high offices in particular, should be con- sidered as an infringement of the priviliges of the Assembly, and that persons guilty of such a breach of privilege might be denied access to the building.

49. The resolution approved by the Assembly in fact finds that no breach of privilege had taken place, but the body of the report made it clear that the protection of the prestige and independence of the Assembly against unwarranted intervention and unseemly confusion, which organisations outside the Council of Europe might attempt as part of their propaganda or for their own special ends, was of great importance. This is a clear warning to organisations such as the European Movement not to interfere improperly in the work of the Assembly.

Report of the Procedure Committee on the Provisional Rules of Procedure

50. On 7th September the Assembly considered a report from the Rules of Procedure Committee on their revision of the provisional rules of procedure. The report showed that the Committee had only reached Article 7 of the provisional rules, and asked for more time to complete their task. The Assembly approved the following resolution :-

The Assembly approves the formation of a Sub-Committee of the Committee for Procedure and Privileges consisting of six members including necessarily the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and rapporteur of the said com- mittee, pyhose taskshall be to compile by means of any necessary contacts, a draft for final rules of procedure which will be submitted to the Assembly."

37682

c 2

USE

12

Thagefe5ehof 662 any necessary contacts walaghted of are that the

sub-committee took advice from experts in Parliamentary procedure.

Report of the Legal and Administrative Committee on Human Rights

51. On 8th September the Assembly considered the report of the Legal and Administrative Committee on the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The same day the report was approved in its final amended form by 65 votes to 1 with 20 abstentions.

52. The following is a summary of the Report as approved :—

(1) The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers shall as soon as possible cause to be drawn up a draft Human Rights Convention; a draft giving the general lines of this Convention forms the body of the Report.

(2) In order to ensure the observance by Member States of the provisions of the Convention, there shall be established a European Commission for Human Rights and a European Court of Justice.

(3) During the next session, the Assembly shall have a report from the Committee of Ministers on the steps taken to follow up this recom- mendation.

53. The debate lasted almost all day and late into the evening, producing lively discussion. As expected, the main proposal in the Committee's report was a draft convention listing personal and political rights and freedoms based on the United Nations Declaration. These should be guaranteed collectively through machinery consisting of a European Commission of Enquiry and Conciliation and a European Court. Both in Committee and in the Assembly Mr. Ungoed Thomas and M. Rolin (Belgium) urged the deletion of any reference to a court, on the grounds that a court would not be able to administer such a vaguely phrased list of human rights and that, in any case, the international Court of Justice at The Hague could, if need be, be adapted to serve the purpose which the Assembly had in mind. They also took grave exception to the proposal that individuals could call in question decisions under their own democratic laws by appeal to an international authority. These speakers and their supporters were however, out-voted. A dangerously vague definition of the right to property and the right of parents to decide the education to be given to their children, both included in the list of human rights, were the occasion of considerable controversy between Left and Right, this being one of the very few occasions on which the Assembly tended to split on purely party lines. These two points were in the end not included in the report but referred back to the Committee for further study. The same action was taken, largely for technical reasons, on a motion by Mr. Cocks declaring that any use of torture was a crime against humanity. The abstentions were made up almost entirely of United Kingdom Labour representatives, the Turks, and a number of French and Belgian Catholics, the latter objecting to the omission of the right of parents to decide the education of their children.

Report of the Economic Committee on the Creation of a European Patent Office

- 54. On 8th September the Assembly considered a report of the Economic Committee advocating the creation of a European Patent Office, an item on the Assembly's Agenda which had been referred direct to the Committee without a prior general debate in the Assembly. The report was approved after minor amendment but little debate, by 78 votes to none, with 7 abstentions. There was no discussion of the draft Convention annexed to the report.

55. The following is a summary of the report as approved ::

The Assembly-

(1) Transmits to the Committee of Ministers an annexed proposal for the

creation of a European Patents Office.

(2) Requests the Committee of Ministers to inform the Standing Committee

of any objections they may have.

(Bagestucts the2Committee on Economic Queras 51sa2a definitive

draft in the course of the next session.

321

13

of 662,