Minister of Justice meets with Bjørne Berge of the Council of Europe
Francisca Van Dunem received today the Council of Europe''s Deputy Secretary General for a working meeting.
Minister Francisca Van Dunem and Bjørne Berge, Council of Europe’s Deputy Secretary General
The meeting took place today, taking advantage of the presence of Bjørne Berge in Lisbon to participate in the award of the North-South 2020 Prize to the International Commission against the Death Penalty and the Network of Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change, a ceremony held at the Assembly of the Republic.
The recommendations made by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) were reviewed, in the context of mutual evaluations promoted by the Council of Europe. It was also signed and ratified the Protocol to modernise the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data and the Second Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime.
The negotiation of a convention on the protection of the environment through Criminal Law and a convention on the protection of the profession of Lawyer were also addressed, where Portugal’s support to these initiatives was expressed.
The Minister of Justice also renewed Portugal’s commitment to the Council of Europe, reporting on the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Strategy, on the planned measures to address issues related to the prison system and to the training on democracy and human rights to police authorities as well.
Portugal’s active participation in the various activities, groups and committees of the Council of Europe was welcomed by the Deputy Secretary General, who highlighted the good example of multilateralism and international cooperation and thanked the support given in the organisation of the 26th Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services, which took place last September, in Funchal.