News 2017
Secretary General Jagland urges Bucharest to rethink reform of the judiciary
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has today sent a letter to the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, urging the authorities to seek the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law) regarding the legislative reforms on the judiciary...
Armenia: Council of Europe anti-corruption body issues a new compliance report
The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) has published today a new report assessing the implementation by Armenia of its earlier recommendations on preventing corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO concludes...
Gender equality in employment is still a distant promise in Europe
End-of-the-year statement by Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks
Statement on International Migrants Day
Integration of migrants is Europe’s present and future opportunity
Fake news and fractured trust
Council of Europe joins UN panel at Internet Governance Forum, among other activities
Ending the trade in instruments of torture
“A frightening arsenal of instruments of torture are still being manufactured, sold and marketed in a number of Council of Europe member States,” Vusal Huseynov (Azerbaijan, EPP/CD) told the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, on 12 December 2017 in Paris. “Thumbcuffs, spiked batons...
Violence against Women: Joint communiqué from OECD, Council of Europe, European Commission and UN
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and UN Women agreed on the global action to combat violence against women. These institutions reaffirmed today their full commitment to eliminate gender based violence and discussed...
Venice Commission: Gianni Buquicchio re-elected president
In its final plenary session, on 8-9 December, the Council of Europe's European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) elected its president and vice presidents to two-year terms. Re-elected President for the fourth time in a row, Gianni Buquicchio (Italy) has presided over the...
Le Tour de France de l’Egalité fait étape au Conseil de l’Europe
Retransmission en direct Dans le cadre du Tour de France de l’Egalité, la Ministre chargée des Affaires européennes, Nathalie Loiseau, et la Secrétaire d’État chargée de l’Egalité entre les femmes et les hommes, Marlène Schiappa, débattront de l’égalité entre les femmes et les hommes avec 300...
International Human Rights Day
Statement by Anders Samuelsen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark and Chair of the Committee of Ministers
Venice Commission tackles Polish judicial reforms and Ukrainian education law, among other issues
In an opinion on Poland adopted today, the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law (“Venice Commission”) found that the cumulative effect of proposed reforms to two laws and recently adopted amendments to a third law “puts at serious risk” the independence of “all parts” of the...
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions now online
The latest case-by-case decisions on the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights have been published by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The committee adopted 39 decisions concerning 18 member states at the end of its regular three-day meeting in...
Working Group of the Council of Europe and the Turkish Ministry of Justice
Conclusions of the meeting on 7 December in Strasbourg
Human Rights Day 2017
Jagland and Timmermans call for European states to recommit to human rights standards
MONEYVAL publishes a report on the Holy See
Holy See has made progress in combatting money laundering, but needs to step up efforts to obtain prosecutions
A dark year on the anti-corruption front
On the eve of the International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated on 9 December, the Chair of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), Marin Mrčela, made the following statement: “2017 has been a dark year on the anti-corruption front. There have been many allegations of corruption in public...
Anti-torture Committee visits the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation
A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out a visit to the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation from 28 November to 4 December 2017. It was the Committee’s twelfth visit to this Republic.
Committee of Ministers launches infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan
The Committee of Ministers of the 47-nation Council of Europe has launched infringement proceedings against Azerbaijan due to the authorities’ continuing refusal to ensure the unconditional release of opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov following a judgment from the European Court of Human...
Implementing European Court of Human Rights judgments
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is holding its quarterly meeting to oversee member states’ execution of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights from 5 to 7 December. Information on the cases to be examined at the meeting is available here. Decisions taken by the committee...
Progress needed to ensure women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in Europe
“Women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are human rights. Regrettably, however, women in Europe still have these rights denied or restricted as a result of laws, policies and practices that ultimately reflect continuing gender stereotypes and inequalities. States must acknowledge and...