Newsroom
Ireland : concerns over Roma and Travellers
Irish society has demonstrated increasing levels of tolerance in recent years, but national strategies or actions plans on key issues – such as the integration of Travellers and Roma communities – suffer from a lack of clear and concrete implementation plans. Furthermore, Traveller communities in...
Refugees and diverse societies, which policies for the intercultural city?
The Intercultural Cities (ICC) programme has launched a series of didactic and awareness videos addressing local governments wishing to evolve as intercultural municipalities. The videos give insights on how to adapt cities’ institutions and services to the needs of a diverse population by...
Death penalty in Belarus : execution condemned
The Committee of Ministers deeply deplores the execution of Mr Alyaksandr Zhylnikau, announced on 13 June 2019. It calls on the Belarussian authorities not to carry out the execution of Mr Vyachaslau Sukharko, condemned for the same crime as Mr Alyakasandr Zhylnikau. The Committee of Ministers...
Protecting victims of terrorism
A workshop on the protection of victims of terrorist acts will be organised on Thursday 20 June in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Human Rights. Its aim is to raise awareness of the Council of Europe Guidelines (2017) on the protection of victims of terrorism and to...
Member states must assume more responsibility for rescuing migrants at sea and protecting their rights
“European states’ approach to migration in the Mediterranean Sea has become much too focused on preventing refugees and migrants from reaching European shores, and too little on the humanitarian and human rights aspects. This approach is having tragic consequences”, said Dunja Mijatović, Council...
European Dialogue on Internet Governance in The Hague
A Council of Europe delegation will contribute to the debates of 2019 edition of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) to be held in The Hague on 19 and 20 June. Organised under the theme “Co-operating in the digital age”, the event will bring together representatives of...
Commission for Efficiency of Justice adopts new tools on cyberjustice and mediation
At its 32nd meeting (Strasbourg, 13-14 June 2019), the CEPEJ adopted a Toolkit for the implementation of the Guidelines on Cyberjustice, a European Handbook for Development of National Legislation on Mediation as well as Guidelines on designing and monitoring mediators training schemes. These...
GRECO: looking ahead after 20 years fighting corruption
The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) is organising an international conference in Strasbourg on 17 June to mark its 20th anniversary. Held under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, the event will discuss GRECO’s achievements in assisting states to...
Strengthening data protection globally with “Convention 108+”
An international conference in Strasbourg on 12 June will discuss the role of the Council of Europe’s modernised data protection convention, “Convention 108+”, in fostering a common legal regime for data protection at global level and the need for states to accede swiftly to this treaty. Opened...
Italy ratifies Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions
Italy has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, during a ceremony today at the Palais de l’Europe, with Deputy Secretary General Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni and Ambassador Michele Giacomelli, Permanent Representative of Italy to the Council of...
Anti-racism commission publishes its annual report
Hate speech and xenophobic populism remained major concerns in Europe in 2018
Statement of the Secretary General on the situation in the Republic of Moldova and the Venice Commission
I am extremely concerned by the latest developments in the Republic of Moldova. I call on the democratically elected Parliament, the legitimate Government and all political forces to act with restraint and responsibility. Recent decisions of the Constitutional Court are difficult to understand...
Statement concerning Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has made the following statement with regard to the situation of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov in Russia: “I am very much concerned and saddened by reports coming from Moscow alleging that investigative journalist Ivan...
Várpalota conference: Smart, democratic and inclusive cities
Faced with rapid urbanisation, climate change and increasing pressure on city services, including transport and healthcare, European cities must adapt by developing smart-city technologies. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has organised a conference on this topic, entitled "Smart...
Screening of persons working with refugee children insufficient to protect them from sexual abuse
European states have only partially implemented recommendations of 2017 to protect children affected by the refugee crisis from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, concluded an evaluation report adopted by the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote Committee at its latest meeting and published today....
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers
The latest case-by-case decisions on the implementation of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights have been published by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The committee adopted 32 decisions concerning 16 member states at the end of its quarterly human rights...
Roma and Travellers’ history in school curricula: working towards a recommendation on their inclusion
Meeting in Toulouse
New anti-racism commission reports on Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, and Slovenia
This week the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has published new reports on Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, and Slovenia, as well as conclusions on seven other countries. In its report on the Netherlands, (ECRI) welcomes the process to include further discrimination...
GRETA publishes second report on Finland
Anti-trafficking expert group urges Finland to improve the identification of child victims of human trafficking
Implementing European Court of Human Rights judgments
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is holding its quarterly meeting to oversee the execution of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg from 4 to 6 June. Information on the cases to be examined during the meeting is available here. Decisions taken...