Introduction.- Characterization of international parliamentary bodies.- The European Parliament.- Inter-Parliamentary Union.- The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.- The Council of Europe.- Cooperation between the OSCE PA and PACE.- Parliamentarization at the global level.- Conclusion.
Aleksandra Chiniaeva is a qualified Russian lawyer, who has recently obtained PhD degree from Saarland University (Germany). Aleksandra’s seven years of experience studying and researching processes of democratization and parliamentarization in international governmental organizations underline the monograph. She has work experience in international organizations that made her able to scrutinize the object of the study from inside the acting IGOs with parliamentary bodies. Aleksandra was born in Vladivostok, Russia, where she got her legal education and moved to Saarbrücken, Germany in 2010 to continue education. Throughout her academic life, she advocated for human rights and democratic principles looking for possibilities to improve the law.
This book offers a general framework for a better understanding of the differences and similarities between the institutional rules of intergovernmental organizations that include parliamentary elements, and analyzes the role of various types of international parliamentary assemblies in the system of global governance, as well as insights into the process known as “parliamentarization of international organizations.”
Firstly, it presents a case study of various types of international parliamentary assemblies, which is then used to analyze the law of particular international organizations that include parliamentary assemblies or relate to them.
Secondly, the book compares two parliamentary assemblies of international organizations – the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – in terms of structure, powers, and relations with their IGOs. It also investigates the activities of assemblies and their cooperations for the purpose to explore the positive effects of the work of international parliamentary assemblies and their potential for having an impact at the national level.
Lastly, the book analyzes the tangible and desirable powers of international assemblies by comparing examples of existing international parliamentary assemblies with the UN Parliamentary Assembly project. Based on that, the author compiles a list of essential requirements and principles for effective international parliamentary assemblies.