CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Celebrates 29th Anniversary

On 27 March, the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States celebrates its 29th anniversary. On 27 March 1992, in Almaty (Republic of Kazakhstan), the Speakers of Founder Parliaments signed the treaty establishing the Assembly as the parliamentary body of the Commonwealth.

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced significantly the implementation of the IPA CIS plans for 2020. Despite those difficult conditions, the Assembly continued to work actively and develop, achieving new goals in the field of model law-making and other areas of activity.

29th year, a year of the pandemic

The spring session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly featured the meetings of four permanent commissions, two expert advisory boards and the Joint Commission at the IPA CIS for the Harmonization of National Laws Related to Security, Countering Emerging Threats and Challenges.

The meeting of the IPA CIS Council was held on 27 November 2020 online chaired by Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council Valentina Matvienko.

It focused on the legal support of measures taken in the CIS countries in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the discussion, attended by the WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge, the IPA CIS and the WHO Regional Office for Europe adopted the Joint Statement “Role of Parliaments in Countering COVID-19”.

In 2020, the Assembly adopted 26 model laws, including the Model CIS Labor Code, the Model CIS Electoral Code, the model laws on Reparation of Injury for Crime Victims, on Engineering Activity and Engineering, on Construction of Real Estate on Basis of Shared Equity, on Refugees, on Agroinsurance, on Environmental Safety Pipeline Transportation of Oil Products, on Development and Protection of Mountainous Areas, on Elimination of Accumulated Environmental Damage, on Contracting in Research and Development Sphere, on Parliamentary Oversight, on Sports at School, on Countering the Use of Doping in Sport, as well as the Aligned Glossary of Education Terms, the Recommendatory Typologies of New Crimes Committed with Use of Information Technologies and a number of other documents.

The continued monitoring confirms the relevance of the Assembly’s documents in the legal systems of the Commonwealth countries: more than 70 percent of provisions were implemented in the legislation of the CIS Member Nations, about 10 percent of provisions are similar to the national legislation.

The IPA CIS observers performed monitoring of nine electoral campaigns.

In 2020-2021, the IPA CIS observer teams monitored the elections to the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic (9 February 2020), to the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan (1 March 2020), of the President of the Republic of Belarus (9 August 2020), to the Jogorku Kenesh and of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (4 October 2020 and 10 January 2021), of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan (11 October 2020), of the President of the Republic of Moldova (first round – 1 November 2020, second round – 15 November 2020), to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan (10 January 2021).

The Observer Team from among the IIMDD IPA CIS staff members and experts performed monitoring of the elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (21 June 2020).

On 10 February 2021 the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations celebrated its 15th anniversary.  According to Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council Valentina Matvienko, the Institute is the key platform for discussion, summarizing and dissemination of best practices in the field of organization of elections and improvement of electoral legislation.

75th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War

In 2020 the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly celebrated the significant date – the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The majority of the scheduled events have been implemented despite the pandemic.

Forward-looking Activity

Like the rest of the international community, the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly looks forward to the speedy settlement of the situation with the coronavirus pandemic and plans to hold a number of large-scale international events in 2021.

The spring session will take place in April. The IPA CIS Council meeting and the 52nd plenary session, as well as the meetings of the permanent commissions on the Political Issues and International Cooperation, on Defense and Security Issues, on Economy and Finance will be held on 15-16 April.

On 15 April, the international conference “Global Threats and Challenges in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic Terrorism and Violent Extremism” will take place online. The conference is co-organized by the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. The conference will be attended by the MPs of the CIS countries, the representatives of international organizations, experts and the academia, the representatives of civil society and relevant organizations.

On 27-28 May 2021 the Tavricheskiy Palace – the IPA CIS headquarters will host the Ninth Nevsky International Ecological Congress. The overall theme of the event will be “Ecology of the Planet – Sustainable Development”.

On 13-15 October 2021 the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum is scheduled. It will be dedicated to the global mission of women in the new reality.