Translation of "Appel sur une question de droit " (French → English) :

57. Criticises the fact that the issue of Western Sahara has not been placed on the agenda for the 2016 sessions of the HRC; emphasises once again that the Western Sahara conflict is a decolonisation issue and that, under international law, the Kingdom of Morocco has no sovereignty over Western Sahara and is regarded as the occupying power; condemns the persistent violation of the fundamental rights of the Sahrawi people; calls for the protection of the fundamental rights of the people of Western Sahara, including freedom of associ ...[+++]ation, freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate; calls for the immediate release of all Sahrawi political prisoners and, as a matter of urgency, of the members of the Gdeim Izik group condemned by the Moroccan military tribunal; repeats its call to Spain to grant political asylum to the young Sahrawi Hassana Aalia, sentenced by a court to life imprisonment; stresses the need for international monitoring of the human rights situation in Western Sahara; calls on Morocco and the Polisario Front to continue the negotiations which are designed to lead to a peaceful and lasting solution to the Western Sahara conflict, and reaffirms the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination, which must be decided by a democratic referendum held in accordance with United Nations Resolutions 34/37 and 35/19;

56. Considers that trade and human rights can go hand in hand and that the business community has an important role to play in promoting human rights and democracy; believes that the promotion of human rights should be built on cooperation between government and private sector; reaffirms in this context that European companies should undertake adequate measures to ensure that their operations in third countries respect human rights standards; reaffirms, moreover, the importance for the EU to promote corporate social responsibility and for European enterprises to play a leading role in promoting international standards on business and ...[+++]human rights; calls, moreover, for the EU to take an active role in the 12th session of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and to support efforts to align their policies with the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises; recommends that the EU and its Member States engage in the debate regarding a legally binding international instrument on business and human rights within the UN system;

15. Deplores the inadequate protection of IPR in China, and regrets the lack of specific means available to European businesses, and particularly SMEs, to counter IPR infringements effectively; welcomes the Commission's decision to propose a review of the directive on the enforcement of IPR; calls on the Commission and Member States to defend IPR better in all multilateral organisations where China is a member (the WTO, the World Health Organisation(WHO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)); wants China to continue to transpose into its national legislation current international law on the protection of IPR and, mo ...[+++]re specifically, to combat counterfeiting and piracy, and urges the Chinese authorities to ensure enforcement, especially at a regional level; regrets that China has not taken part in the negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA); urges the Commission and the Member States to step up customs cooperation in the EU and with third countries, particularly with China, on the seizure of counterfeit goods, and to simplify customs procedures; asks the Commission and the Member States to cooperate more closely with third countries on copyright issues and licensing;

W. whereas human rights issues can, by their very nature, require immediate reactions; whereas the mechanisms provided under the current Rules of Procedure do not enable Members of Parliament to put questions to the Council and the Commission for urgent reply; whereas replies by the Council to parliamentary questions for written answer are always extremely delayed and too often vague and superficial,

W. whereas human rights issues can, by their very nature, require immediate reactions; whereas the mechanisms provided under the current Rules of Procedure do not enable Members of Parliament to put questions to the Council and the Commission for urgent reply; whereas replies by the Council to parliamentary questions for written answer are always extremely delayed and too often vague and superficial,

If we think of this as a quasi criminal type of situation, it looks like a fairly weak right of appeal compared to what we see in criminal law, where the convicted person has a broad right of appeal on questions of law and fact, generally speaking.