(1 = yes, 0 = no), Suggested Peers uses countries' similarities calculated by computing the distance between countries in an embedded country space following the. Finally, under Article 32 of the Constitution, Foreigners shall enjoy in the Principality all public and private rights which are not formally reserved for nationals. This law has been amended several times since 1949 but the owners concerned consider that they bear an excessive and disproportionate burden and that the State should stop offloading the responsibility for social housing onto them. The figure rose to 5,500 in 1995 and now stands at around 7,500. We were given several reasons for the delay but none of them really convinced us. 1.122 of 22 December 1988 concerning the distribution of radio and television broadcasts and to Sovereign Order No. 148. To these figures should be added the minor children of naturalised parents, who also become Monegasques (6 in 2004, 10 in 2005 and 8 in 2006). 13 This reference is rather surprising since military service was abolished in France in 2000. 0000036954 00000 n 0000008870 00000 n A woman who has obtained Monegasque nationality through marriage is unable to transmit it to her children and there thus appear to be a number of stateless children in Monaco. According to the latest data supplied to us26, the Principality currently has around 32,500inhabitants of 120 different nationalities, of whom a third were born there. During our first visit to Monaco in December 2005 we were very surprised to learn that among the persons of 120 nationalities residing permanently in Monaco there was a special category known as "enfants du pays". 12. In the Government's view, strict application of the rule that at least half the members of the commission should be judges elected by their peers under arrangements guaranteeing the widest possible representation of those peers a rule which in fact has no legal force is not possible in Monaco for the following reasons: the judiciary is at present composed of 20 judges and applying the rule would mean having more than ten judges sitting in the judicial service commission, which would amount to having a self-governing judiciary; election of judges, given that the judges are sometimes on secondment, might prove difficult in view of the limited duration of secondments; the judicial service commission's independence might be affected by a risk of pressure as a result of some of its members being elected representatives. The Princely Government consequently contains no Counsellor for Justice. 12, 11.3. 58. Five parties are currently represented on the National Council. 156. 34 The example was quoted of the United Kingdom, which has British subjects (nationals), citizens (enfants du pays) and residents. 711 of 25 July 1964 to the constitutional amendments made in 2002 but was rejected by the Government, was of particular importance and we very much hope that the joint working meetings of the National Council and the Government will shortly result in a full government bill. 1.276 of 22 December 2003, which grants Monegasque nationality to the under-age children of mothers who obtained Monegasque nationality through naturalisation, reinstatement or declaration, which was not possible before. According to the Government expert, the European Court of Human Rights in this judgment had taken the innovative step of applying the provisions of the Revised European Social Charter (hitherto the Court had focused solely on violations of the European Convention on Human Rights), by citing against the state concerned an article of the Revised Social Charter that the country had chosen not to ratify. They acts as a catalyst for greater political rights and civil liberties through a combination of analysis, advocacy, and action. On the Assembly's insistence, Monegasque electoral law was amended in April 2002 and a system of one-round plurinominal majority election incorporating an element of proportional representation46 was introduced. Moreover, it has to be consulted on international treaties, the dissolution of the National Council, applications for naturalisation and restoration of Monegasque nationality, pardons and amnesties. This monopoly does not concern programmes but only the technical modalities of broadcasting". 163. This work is currently under way, and the National Council majority supports the view that the relevant legislation should confine itself to institutional and budgetary aspects, leaving other matters to the Assembly's internal rules of procedure, which it should have full power to determine, subject only to validation by the Supreme Court. The offence of abuse of weakness, designed to protect particularly vulnerable persons (eg the elderly), does not exist either: theft, breach of trust or fraud has to be proved. 81. The delay seems to be due to the Government's reluctance to state reasons, on the one hand, for decisions on refoulement or expulsion and, on the other hand, for decisions in economic matters, particularly those relating to authorisation to practise a commercial activity (there is no freedom to practise a trade or set up an industry in Monaco; all foreigners and foreign companies wishing to establish themselves there must request authorisation). The chief Monegasque advertisers are logically attracted by radio stations that broadcast on a regional basis (and State-controlled budgets are no exception to this rule) and therefore do not wish to allocate funds to any purely local medium. 1.162 and the second one establishes the Information and Monitoring Service for Financial Channels (SICCFIN). In March 2005 Monaco also acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Owners are obliged to bring the properties up to standard, must rent them in accordance with an order of priority established by law and can only take back their property for their personal use on certain conditions. 79. We heard no allegations of police brutality. From now on they can be chosen and appointed by the Prince from French or Monegasque14 nationals. Regarding Council of Europe conventions, 3.2. However, this number is still insufficient to handle the secretarial needs of the 8 committees (instead of 6 previously, including a new committee for culture and another for equality between women and men). On acceding, it accepted the statutory obligations which all member states must meet and also made a number of specific commitments, which it undertook to honour within time-limits specified in Opinion No. There was a problem loading your book clubs. Council must pass a ratification law in accordance with Article 14 of the Their research and analysis frame the policy debate in the United States and abroad on the progress and decline of freedom. Please try again. 7.7.4. 215. 12 See Article 5 of the Convention of 8 November 2005. Regarding domestic legislation, 5. The making of reservations and declarations is inherent in the discretionary powers which the Prince enjoys in exercising his authority. For the record, mention should also be made of the Convention on Cybercrime, which is to be ratified within five years of accession. A new convention on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters was signed on 8 November 2005 between the French Government and the Principality. It notes that Monaco has now ratified 30 of the 200 Council of Europe Conventions and signed two others Protocol No. 8. However, Monaco has not ratified Protocol No. Whether ratification is subject or not to enactment of a law has no legal bearing on the need for a Sovereign Order. SICCFIN is at the top of the pyramid as regards the system for combating money laundering in the Principality. 99 Protocol No. freedom was passed on 15 July 2005; 10.4. the law on stating One of the election promises made by the present majority in the National Council was to build95 about 800 new State-owned properties by 2008 so as to provide proper housing for Monegasques96, of whom only 3% own their properties. 3.2. The Assembly also noted that the social-security system was accessible to all people working in Monaco. to ask the Government to increase the number of National Council representatives 43 It consists of 7 members, who are all Monegasques and appointed for 3 years. 62mIhP=([`(F}3aij]zKHkI[y-| %iSK%6 @}IP@ /{)_** q endstream endobj 56 0 obj <>>> endobj 57 0 obj <> endobj 58 0 obj >/PageWidthList<0 612.0>>>>>>/Resources<>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/Tabs/W/Thumb 33 0 R/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 612.0 792.0]/Type/Page>> endobj 59 0 obj [60 0 R] endobj 60 0 obj <>/Border[0 0 0]/H/N/Rect[433.911 569.432 527.488 557.031]/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> endobj 61 0 obj <> endobj 62 0 obj <> endobj 63 0 obj <> endobj 64 0 obj <> endobj 65 0 obj <>stream 23. The question that arises is whether new offences and criminal penalties can be created by Sovereign Order whereas Article 20 of the Constitution provides that no penalty may be imposed or applied except in accordance with the law (see, for example, Sovereign Order No. The independence of judges is guaranteed by the Constitution (Article 88) and the organisation, competence and functioning of the courts, together with the status of judges, are determined by law. Among the optional articles, the Principality proposed to ratify Articles 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 14, 15, 17, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28 and 29. In accordance with Opinion No. It was already clear from the report of the eminent lawyers that there was no major problem as regards the functioning of justice in Monaco and that the Monegasque legal system provided proper safeguards for the enjoyment of fundamental rights and liberties. 141 on 8 August 2002, the Principality of Monaco entered a reservation on the implementation of Article 2 of that convention, declaring that this article "shall apply only to the laundering of the proceeds of an offence as provided in and punished by Articles 218 to 218-3 of the Penal Code" and in the law on narcotics. It is therefore difficult to understand the reasons for Monaco's delay in honouring its commitment to sign Protocol No. 42 The National Council therefore has the power neither to introduce a confidence vote nor to vote to censure the Government. The RPM feels that it was wrongly imposed by the Council of Europe (AS/Mon (2007) 05, p 21). 70. The agreement on the taxation of savings concluded with Brussels, which came into force in July 2005, does not penalise investment because the taxation of savings income at source will affect only non-resident European Union nationals and safeguards have been obtained on banking confidentiality23. This report is the first submitted by the Monitoring Committee to the Assembly assessing whether the Principality has met the commitments it entered into on accession. Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app. 104. According to the Government, the Monegasque authorities have no intention whatsoever of establishing a general status for certain foreigners based on criteria of ties to the Principality, which would be difficult to define in legal terms, because they are mainly subjective, and would be likely to give rise to legitimate complaints as to the constitutionality of such provisions on the part of the residents not covered by them. While it still does not possess a real power of legislative initiative, the National Council has nevertheless seen its role in the legislative process increase since the 2002 constitutional reform: the private member's bills which it draws up must be accepted or rejected within six months, with the Government being required to give reasons in the latter case54. The Assembly hopes that France will ratify the convention as soon as possible. 250(2004) that, within 5 years of accession, the Monegasque authorities should further broaden the powers of the National Council, particularly as regards supervision of government action, the annual presentation of the governmental programme, the right of legislative initiative and budgetary debate, in the hope that the institutions would evolve in the course of time. Only nationals can take part in municipal elections. 92. (1) Visit the website, nairarenault1.wix.com/nairamatevosyan, for the full collection of my authored books (currently 174). 49. All the same, the mayor and municipal councillors if only in that the town hall provides public services, such as the registry office, to all residents are attentive to the whole population. Written in pourquoi tale genre, "Amazing Monaco" completes a series of travel-diaries in the line with: (1) Amalfi Coast, Italy; (2) Amazing Andorra; (3) Amazing Bavaria; (4) Amazing Berlin; (5) Amazing Bhutan; (6) Amazing Cave-Houses; (7) Amazing Domes; (8) Amazing Dublin; (9) Amazing Falkland Islands; (10) Amazing Florence; (11) Amazing French Riviera; (12) Amazing Greenland; (13) Amazing Gozo, Malta; (14) Amazing Iceland; (15) Amazing Innsbruck; (16) Amazing Jurmala, Latvia; (17) Amazing Naples; (18) Amazing Palau; (19) Amazing Paris; (20) Amazing Railways; (21) Amazing Salzburg; (22) Amazing Scotland; (23) Amazing Tree Houses; (24) Amazing Vatican; (25) Amazing Vienna; (26) Amazing Windows; (27) Amazing Wyoming; (28) Amazing Zrich; (29) Annecy, France; (30) Austin, Texas; (31) Banff, Alberta; (32) Bruges & Ghent, Belgium; (33) Cabo San Lucas; (34) Christmas Island; (35) Cocos Keeling Islands; (36) Colmar, France; (37) Cork & Kenmare, Ireland; (38) Easter Island, Chile; (39) Exquisite Bath, England; (40) Fifty Odd Loci in the United States; (41) Fiji; (42) Interlaken and Saint Moritz, Switzerland; (43) Island Saint Helena: British Overseas; (44) Isle of Man; (45) Lafayette, Louisiana; (46) Las Pozas, Xilitla, Mexico; (47) Lecco, Italy; (48) Lille, France; (49) Montserrat, British West Indies; (50) Mulhouse, France; (51) Myrtle Beach, SC; (52) Nara, Japan; (53) Obernai, France; (54) Odd & Outre Places of Washington, DC; (55) Palma de Mallorca, Spain; (56) Poznan, Poland; (57) San Marino; (58) Santa Fe, NM; (59) Sardinia, Italy; (60) Slestat, France; (61) Sint Maarten: Dutch & French Overseas; (62) Sintra, Portugal; (63) Socotra Island, Yemen; (64) South Georgia & Sandwich Islands, Britain; (65) St John's: Newfoundland-Labrador, Canada; (66) Strasbourg, France; (67) Svalbard, Norway; (68) The Faroe Islands; (69) The Trulli of Alberobello, Italy; (70) Tristan da Cunha, and (71) Wissembourg, France. 1.291), education (this bill was a follow-up to the study of a bill withdrawn by the Government, which, however, was resubmitted on 18 August 2006), the organisation and functioning of the National Council (the Government has said that it is agreeable to working in concert with the Assembly on the drafting of a bill on this subject) and, finally, organisation of the profession of surveyor (which will probably not be followed up). For your convenience, the titles are listed below. 0000070319 00000 n The previous legislation did not contain any requirement as to the period of marriage. The bond is based firstly on rights: exclusive political rights, including the right to vote in all elections, whether national or municipal, economic rights and social rights. The Principality of Monaco became a member of the Council of Europe on 5 October 2004. In the Government's view, however, the fact that the right to vote in all elections, including municipal ones, is vested solely in Monegasque subjects is an essential component of Monegasque identity and the Monegasque social pact. Failure to sign Protocol No. For each country and territory, Freedom in the World analyzes the electoral process, political pluralism and participation, the functioning of the government, freedom of expression and of belief, associational and organizational rights, the rule of law, and personal autonomy and individual rights. 8 With an autonomous territory, a stable population and organised public authorities. MCR has a monopoly on the distribution of radio frequencies from Monaco and equivalent transmitting sites and thus provides broad coverage for the French and Italian Rivieras. 142. 4, 6, 7 and 13; it did so on 30 November 2005, at the same time as lodging two declarations and several reservations. When we raised this question with the Mayor and Communal Council, we were told firstly that French people residing in Monaco paid their taxes in France and therefore had no right to scrutinise the expenses of the commune which they did not finance, and secondly that it was difficult to see how to organise representation for the 120 nationalities present in Monaco without practising discrimination. Failure to ratify the revised European Social Charter. It has five full members and two deputy members appointed by the Prince for a period of four years on proposals from the National Council, the Council of State, the Crown Council, the Appeal Court and the Court of First Instance81. Status of elected representatives on the National Council, 7.7. 631 of 10 August 2006 adopted pursuant to Article 10a of Law No. 1. 122. According to the Monegasque authorities, the offences underlying money laundering are exclusively offences committed outside the country. With an eye to the next elections in February 2008, a number of private member's bills for changes in the electoral rules have been presented: the PFM had submitted a private member's bill abolishing the requirement for there to be a minimum of 13 candidates in order to put forward a list for the elections, on the grounds that this number was too high (over 50% of the seats to be filled). 51 This amount is obviously ridiculously small considering that each of the two lists for the 2003 elections spent between 200,000 and 300,000 on its campaign. The latter claims to have 30 or 50 supporters or sympathisers. The National Council attaches particular importance to examining and voting on the two bills which are inseparable from each other together. 62 On 4 March 2007 the turnout for the municipal elections was 53.7%. It is clear, however, that accession to the Council of Europe has already caused Monaco to compare its legislation and practice with European standards and norms, a process that raises question marks because of the simultaneous need to make allowance for Monegasque conditions. 0000037052 00000 n The violence may be psychological, as in the case of telephone harassment. The instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 19March 2007, the date on which Monaco also ratified the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and the European Agreement relating to Persons participating in Proceedings of the European Court of Human Rights. Our revolutionary technology changes the way individuals and organizations discover, visualize, model, and present their data and the world's data to facilitate better decisions and better outcomes. 96. 80 The draft new Code of Criminal Procedure was laid before the National Council in September 2006. Another Sovereign Order No. These long discussions often mean that considerable time elapses between the tabling of private members' bills in the Assembly and final enactment of the legislation. 18. It also seems that a problem could arise73 as a result of the wording of Article 31 of the Law whereby the press is banned from reporting libel cases in which proof of the alleged facts (which must be supplied by the accused within 15 days of the summons) is not authorised (however, see Article 34 of the Law, which provides that "an accurate and sincere report of the judicial hearings" may not give rise to prosecution). 200. Therefore, we would like to receive confirmation of the ratification of the European Social Charter as soon as possible and hope that the information seminar on the Social Charter held in Monaco on 15 March 2006 will have dispelled any misunderstandings as to the consequences of ratifying it. In order to be able to ratify the Charter, at least 16 articles must be chosen, including at least 6 out of the 9 compulsory articles in the Charter. The Banking Commission is empowered to carry out on-the-spot checks and checks on the books of Monegasque credit establishments. 74 The legislation on public limited companies dates back to the 19th century, and there is no legislation on consumer or competition matters. The same occurs when the Government has failed to submit a bill within one year after accepting a private member's bill. The relevant constitutional provisions would seem to conflict on this point. Their main concerns are: the absence of legislation on work contracts and, in particular, the fact that reasons for dismissal do not have to be given at present100; the non-application since 1999 of the law on minimum wages, which are theoretically linked to French minimum levels (the USM is demanding a 12% wage increase owing to the non-application in Monaco of the French 35-hour working week legislation); the absence of legislation on temporary work and the lending of labour; shortcomings in work inspection (there are only two labour inspectors in Monaco for some 45,000 employees); the absence of works councils; the fact that under the 1944 law on trade unions trade-union leaders must be of Monegasque nationality, although the latter represent only 2.19% of private-sector wage earners; the obligation to obtain Government authorisation to set up a trade union and the trade unions' inability to appoint members of the Economic and Social Council directly (the Prince appoints 11 members from a list of 20 put forward by the trade unions). While the law presupposes agreement between the wishes of the Prince and of the National Council (Articles 4 and 66 of the Constitution), the Prince possesses the right to initiate legislation, the right of sanction and the right of promulgation (Article 66 of the Constitution), while the National Council enjoys "only" the power to submit private member's bills. This feature deserves particular stress because direct access by litigants to the constitutional judge is not very common in States governed by the rule of law. 108. 34. This law was the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court on the grounds of unconstitutionality: by decision of 16 January 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that this law complied with the Constitution and repealed only certain provisions relating to the exercise of the landlord's right to recover his property. , ISBN-13 146. To be frank, the moment I stopped separating "serious" from "unserious" in my life, I truly became serious about life. Because of the proliferation of laws facilitating the acquisition of nationality, projections have indicated that within a few decades accommodating all Monegasques will be virtually a physical impossibility. This system of national preference is in no way shocking as such: the Assembly expressly recognised in paragraph 9 of Opinion No. 126. Contrary to what is often believed, the Monegasque legal system is not modelled exactly on French law: there are substantial differences in both positive law and judicial competences. 250 (2004) "the particular situation of a country such as Monaco where the indigenous population is numerically smaller than the total number of people working and/or living there" and considered that "in interpreting the commitments which Monaco is to honour, the Council of Europe should take account of this situation which has led the authorities to introduce preferential schemes, chiefly benefiting Monegasque nationals, in respect of work and employment, housing and social welfare". 98. In practice, proposals are addressed to the Director of Legal Services, who forwards them to the Prince. 0000001316 00000 n 250 (2004). 0000005360 00000 n Council of Europe experts could be asked to advise on this matter. Non-Monegasques with low incomes receive a Differential Housing Benefit (ADL), which however is paid only for housing in the protected sector. It may also meet in special session either when convened by the Prince or when convened by its President at the request of at least two thirds of Members of Parliament. There is also a municipal police force (13persons) which, however, does not possess general police powers. The most serious penalties affecting exercise of the profession are imposed by judges of the appeal court sitting in chambers. Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world. 0000035793 00000 n According to statistics provided by the Government, 21 women acquired Monegasque nationality by marriage in 2004, 18 in 2005 and 28 in 2006 (as of 21 November). Article 48 of the Constitution provides that, subject to legislative provisions to the contrary, the apportionment of areas between Sovereign Orders and Ministerial Orders (which become enforceable only in the absence of express opposition by the Prince within 10 days) is decided by Sovereign Order. Law No. 12 although required to do so within one year after its entry into force that is, by 1 April 2006. 125. Because of strong political determination in security matters, the crime rate is low and the clear-up rate very high (one in two cases solved). We work hard to protect your security and privacy. 1. The only public subsidy which they receive is a lump-sum reimbursement of 15,000 for campaign51 expenses, provided 5% of the votes have been obtained. 218. Sovereignty is shared. The Principality of Monaco ratified the Council of Europe Convention of 8November 1990 on laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime (ETS 141). 18 Economic activity in Monaco is calculated in turnover and not GDP or GNP per capita. The law has made official a number of transfers of powers effected in 2002 in the area of home care for elderly Monegasque people and young children.