European Parliament decision of 16 January 2014 on amendment of Parliament's Rules of Procedure on the waiver and the defence of parliamentary immunity (2013/2031(REG))
Date: 2014-01-16
Institutions: Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Committee on Legal Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: Member of the European Parliament, parliamentary immunity, rules of procedure




C_2016482EN.01016901.xml










23.12.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 482/169





P7_TA(2014)0035
Amendment of Parliament's Rules of Procedure on the waiver and the defence of parliamentary immunity
European Parliament decision of 16 January 2014 on amendment of Parliament's Rules of Procedure on the waiver and the defence of parliamentary immunity (2013/2031(REG))
(2016/C 482/28)

The European Parliament,







—


having regard to the letter from the Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs of 9 November 2012,










—


having regard to Rules 211 and 212 of its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A7-0012/2014),












1.


Decides to amend its Rules of Procedure as shown below;












2.


Points out that the amendments will enter into force on the first day of the next part-session;












3.


Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and the Commission, for information.





Amendment 1


Parliament’s Rules of Procedure


Rule 5 — paragraph 1 a (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




1a.
   
Parliamentary immunity is not a Member’s personal privilege but a guarantee of the independence of Parliament as a whole and of its Members.







Amendment 2


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 — paragraph 1








Present text




Amendment





1.   In the exercise of its powers in respect of privileges and immunities, Parliament 
shall seek primarily
 to uphold its integrity as a democratic legislative assembly and to secure the independence of its Members in the performance of their duties.


1.   In the exercise of its powers in respect of privileges and immunities, Parliament 
acts
 to uphold its integrity as a democratic legislative assembly and to secure the independence of its Members in the performance of their duties. 
Any request for waiver of immunity shall be evaluated in accordance with Articles 7, 8 and 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union and with the principles referred to in this Rule.







Amendment 3


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 — paragraph 2








Present text




Amendment







2.
   
Any request addressed to the President by a competent authority of a Member State that the immunity of a Member be waived shall be announced in Parliament and referred to the committee responsible.






deleted







Amendment 4


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 — paragraph 3








Present text




Amendment







3.
   
Any request addressed to the President by a Member or a former Member to defend privileges and immunities shall be announced in Parliament and referred to the committee responsible.






deleted







Amendment 5


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 — paragraph 4








Present text




Amendment







4.
   
As a matter of urgency, in circumstances where Members are arrested or have their freedom of movement curtailed in apparent breach of their privileges and immunities, the President, after having consulted the chair and rapporteur of the committee responsible, may take an initiative to assert the privileges and immunities of the Member concerned. The President shall notify the committee of that initiative and inform Parliament.






deleted







Amendment 6


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 — paragraph 4 a (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




4a.
   
Where Members are required to appear as witnesses or expert witnesses, there is no need to request a waiver of immunity, provided:






 








—




that they will not be obliged to appear on a date or at a time which prevents them from performing their parliamentary duties, or makes it difficult for them to perform those duties, or that they will be able to provide a statement in writing or in any other form which does not make it difficult for them to perform their parliamentary duties; and










 








—




that they are not obliged to testify concerning information obtained confidentially in the exercise of their mandate which they do not see fit to disclose.











Amendment 7


Parliament’s Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 a (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




Rule 6a






 




Defence of privileges and immunity






 




1.
   
In cases where the privileges and immunities of a Member or former Member are alleged to have been breached by the authorities of a Member State, a request for a Parliament decision as to whether there has, in fact, been a breach of those privileges and immunities may be made in accordance with Rule 7(-1).






 




2.
   
In particular, such a request for the defence of privileges and immunities may be made if it is considered that the circumstances constitute an administrative or other restriction on the free movement of Members travelling to or from the place of meeting of Parliament or on an opinion expressed or a vote cast in the performance of their duties, or that they fall within the scope of Article 9 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union.






 




3.
   
A request for the defence of the privileges and immunities of a Member shall not be admissible if a request for the waiver or defence of that Member’s immunity has already been received in respect of the same legal proceedings, whether or not a decision was taken at that time.






 




4.
   
No further consideration shall be given to a request for the defence of the privileges and immunities of a Member if a request for the waiver of that Member’s immunity is received in respect of the same legal proceedings.






 




5.
   
In cases where a decision has been taken not to defend the privileges and immunities of a Member, the Member may make a request for reconsideration of the decision, submitting new evidence. The request for reconsideration shall be inadmissible if proceedings have been instituted against the decision under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, or if the President considers that the new evidence submitted is not sufficiently substantiated to warrant reconsideration.







Amendment 8


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 6 b (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




Rule 6b






 




Urgent action by the President to assert immunity






 




1.
   
As a matter of urgency, in circumstances where a Member is arrested or has his or her freedom of movement curtailed in apparent breach of his or her privileges and immunities, the President, after consulting the chair and rapporteur of the committee responsible, may take an initiative to assert the privileges and immunities of the Member concerned. The President shall notify the committee of that initiative and inform Parliament.






 




2.
   
When the President makes use of the powers conferred on him by paragraph 1, the committee shall take cognisance of the President's initiative at its next meeting. Where the committee deems it necessary, it may prepare a report for submission to Parliament.







Amendment 9


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph - 1 (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




-1.
   
Any request addressed to the President by a competent authority of a Member State that the immunity of a Member be waived, or by a Member or a former Member that privileges and immunities be defended, shall be announced in Parliament and referred to the committee responsible.







Amendment 10


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 1








Present text




Amendment





1.   The committee 
responsible
 shall consider without delay 
and in the order in which they have been submitted
 requests for the waiver of immunity or requests for the defence of 
immunity and
 privileges.


1.   The committee shall consider without delay
, but having regard to their relative complexity,
 requests for the waiver of immunity or requests for the defence of privileges 
and immunities
.





Amendment 11


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 3








Present text




Amendment





3.   The committee may ask the authority concerned to provide any information or explanation which the committee deems necessary in order for it to form an opinion on whether immunity should be waived or defended. 
The Member concerned shall be given an opportunity to be heard, may present any documents or other written evidence deemed by that Member to be relevant and may be represented by another Member.




3.   The committee may ask the authority concerned to provide any information or explanation which the committee deems necessary in order for it to form an opinion on whether immunity should be waived or defended.





Amendment 12


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 3 a (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




3a.
   
The Member concerned shall be given an opportunity to be heard, may present any documents or other written evidence deemed by that Member to be relevant and may be represented by another Member.






 




The Member shall not be present during debates on the request for waiver or defence of his or her immunity, except for the hearing itself.






 




The chair of the committee shall invite the Member to be heard, indicating a date and time. The Member may renounce the right to be heard.






 




If the Member fails to attend the hearing pursuant to that invitation, he or she shall be deemed to have renounced the right to be heard, unless he or she has asked to be excused from being heard on the date and at the time proposed, giving reasons. The chair of the committee shall rule on whether such a request to be excused is to be accepted in view of the reasons given, and no appeals shall be permitted on this point.






 




If the chair of the committee grants the request to be excused, he or she shall invite the Member to be heard at a new date and time. If the Member fails to comply with the second invitation to be heard, the procedure shall continue without the Member having been heard. No further requests to be excused, or to be heard, may then be accepted.







Amendment 13


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 5








Present text




Amendment







5.
   
Where Members are required to appear as witnesses or expert witnesses, there is no need to request a waiver of immunity, provided:






deleted












—




that they will not be obliged to appear on a date or at a time which prevents them from performing, or makes it difficult for them to perform, their parliamentary duties, or that they will be able to provide a statement in writing or in any other form which does not make it difficult for them to fulfil their parliamentary duties;








 










—




that they are not obliged to testify concerning information obtained confidentially in the exercise of their mandate which they do not see fit to disclose.








 





Amendment 14


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 6








Present text




Amendment







6.
   
In cases concerning the defence of immunity or privileges, the committee shall state whether the circumstances constitute an administrative or other restriction imposed on the free movement of Members travelling to or from the place of meeting of Parliament or an opinion expressed or a vote cast in the performance of the mandate or fall within aspects of Article 9 of the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities which are not a matter of national law, and shall make a proposal to invite the authority concerned to draw the necessary conclusions.






deleted







Amendment 15


Parliament's Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 10








Present text




Amendment







10.
   
When the President makes use of the powers conferred on him by Rule 6(4), the committee responsible shall take cognisance of the President's initiative at its next meeting. Where the committee deems it necessary it may prepare a report for submission to Parliament.






deleted







Amendment 16


Parliament’s Rules of Procedure


Rule 7 — paragraph 12 a (new)








Present text




Amendment





 




12a.
   
The committee shall lay down principles for the application of this Rule.