The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is one of the institutions of the Council of Europe. It is composed of representatives elected by the national parliaments of the member states from among their membership. Unlike the European Parliament, its powers extend only to the ability to investigate, recommend and advise. Even so, its recommendations on issues such as human rights have significant weight in the European political context. The Palace of Europe in Strasbourg The Council of Europe is an international organizations of 46 member states in the European region. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ...

Similarly to the European Parliament, PACE is divided into political groups based on alliances between national parties of similar ideological viewpoints. However, these groups hold significantly less weight than the similar groups in the European Parliament, both due to the lack of any legislative powers and the lack of direct elections.

One important function of the PACE is the election of judges of the European Court of Human Rights. European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights, often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints from Council of Europe member states. ...

Some notable members of PACE include:

• Dick Marty (Switzerland), appointed in late 2005 as rapporteur to investigate the CIA extraordinary renditions scandal.

Dick Marty (born January 7, 1945 in Sorengo) is a Swiss politician (Free Democratic Party) and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... N379P, one of the planes used by the CIA Extraordinary rendition is a United States government term for an extra-judicial procedure that sends criminal suspects, generally suspected terrorists, to countries other than the United States for imprisonment and interrogation. ...

External Links

• Official web site