Parliamentary Immunity of the Member of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe As a Condition for Conducting Parliamentary Diplomacy

The Author analyzed the problem: to what extent is having parliamentary immunity for a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) a condition for conducting parliamentary diplomacy by the PACE and its members? The assumption bythe PACE of new competences in the scope of the control function (accession procedure, monitoring procedure, election monitoring, participation in conflict resolution), which were not available at the time of the establishment of the Council of Europe, resulted inthe members of the PACE being involved in conducting parliamentary diplomacy and taking the associated risks for their security. The PACE therefore interprets the prohibition on detaining a member of the PACE to a greater extent than that resulting from legally binding norms (the Statute of the Council of Europe, the General Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe), demanding that the PACE must consent to the detention of a member of the PACE. This rule, included in the PACE guidelines, is the so-called „soft law” is valid but should not be abused. Immunity is intended to protect the integrity of the PACE and cannot be a cover for criminal activities.