55th Plenary Session of IPA CIS Held in Tavricheskiy Palace
14 April 2023
On 14 April, the IPA CIS headquarters, the Tavricheskiy Palace, hosted the 55th plenary session of the IPA CIS. The MPs of the CIS Member Nations adopted a total of 27 model laws and other documents, including a number of important modal laws on environmental issues, as well as documents regulating the processes of digitalization in the economy and the use of artificial intelligence.
Delegations from the CIS Member Nations, representatives of partner international organizations and experts took part in the meeting of the Council. The session was opened by Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko.
In the welcome speech Valentina Matvienko pointed out that the Assembly had finished the model lawmaking long-term plan for the CIS countries for 2020-2022. The result of this work is 82 adopted documents. 27 modal laws have been submitted for consideration at today’s session.
Valentina Matvienko reminded that the Council of the CIS Heads of State had supported an initiative of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to establish an international organization under the auspices of the CIS to support and promote the Russian language. According to the Chair of the Council, the CIS Executive Committee has already started developing a document regulating the activities of this structure.
The Head of the Council also invited the parliaments of the Commonwealth to take part in the organization of the international conference “Russian Language - the Basis for the Integration Dialogue in the CIS Region”, which is scheduled for October-November 2023.
Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic Sahiba Gafarova underlined that over the years of its activity the IPA CIS had become one of the authoritative international organizations in the field of inter-parliamentary cooperation, proving its relevance not only in the Commonwealth, but also outside it.
Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan underscored that the cooperation within the CIS framework was an important direction of international cooperation for Armenia.
According to Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev, the recommendations voiced in the agenda are aimed at further strengthening of multilateral cooperation in the field of ecology and other areas of practical interest to Kazakhstan. The Speaker put forward an initiative to hold a forum of creative intellectuals and researchers under the auspices of the CIS. He also suggested joining efforts to forecast and prevent seismic threats.
A video message to the participants of the meeting was sent by Speaker the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbayeva. She said that the model laws had developed by the Assembly contribute to the improvement of legislation in the CIS countries on the basis of universally recognized norms of international law.
Speaker of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda noted the relevance of the model documents under consideration.
“The main topic of the meeting, namely “Improvement of the legal framework of the CIS in the field of ecology and environmental management” is an issue that concerns all of us. Improvement of the legal framework will allow us to achieve respect and comfortable existence for all mankind,” said President of the Central American Parliament Amado Cerrud Acevedo.
IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong spoke about the special responsibility of MPs to respond to environmental challenges. He added that the IPU was ready to help exchange international experience on environmental issues and looked forward to further cooperation with the IPA CIS.
The participants were also welcomed by Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov.
The MPs were presented information on the improvement of the CIS legal and normative base in the sphere of ecology and environmental management.
First Deputy Chair of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov told about the measures, taken by the Russian Federation institutions to provide environmental safety. The law on Responsibility of Industry for Liquidation of Accumulated Environmental Damage has been adopted.
MPs approved a number of environmental laws prepared by the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology:
- the revised model law on Environmental Safety,
- the revised model law on Industrial and Household Waste,
- the revised model law on Protected Natural Landscapes,
- the revised model law on Access to Environmental Information,
- a model law on Environmental Funds,
- a model law on Beekeeping.
MPs of the Commonwealth also adopted a number of modal laws in the field of economy and finance, documents regulating the processes of digitalization in various fields, the model laws regulating financial transactions, activities of funds, investment and trust banking and others.
The plenary session ended with the awarding ceremony.
After the IPA CIS plenary session a briefing was held with the participation of the heads of the parliaments, who summed up the results of the spring session of the Assembly.
