At the beginning of the proceedings, PACE elected a new President Jean-Claude Mignon from France. Natasa Vuckovic, member of the Serbian delegation, was elected one of the Vice Presidents.

At the beginning of the session, the Parliamentary Assembly decided to focus on the situation in the Russian federation between two elections as its current affairs debate. In the course of the session the Assembly will discuss the functioning of democratic institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the situation in Belarus. On Wednesday, 25 January 2012, PACE will be reviewing the report on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Serbia, prepared by the PACE Monitoring Committee.

In the course of the five-day session, the Parliamentary Assembly will also elect a new Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and discuss guaranteeing the authority and effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting human rights and dignity by taking into account previously expressed wishes of patients and advancing women’s rights worldwide.

On Wednesday, PACE will be addressed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Finnish President Tarja Halonen.