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Hungary: Venice Commission assesses law on national sovereignty protection
In an opinion on Hungary’s Act LXXXVIII on the Protection of National Sovereignty, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission has examined the main elements of the Act, particularly the prohibition of foreign funding in electoral campaigns and the establishment and activities of the Sovereignty...
Congress to observe local elections in Türkiye
A twenty-member delegation from the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will carry out a mission from 29 March until 1 April to observe local elections in various regions of Türkiye to be held on 31 March 2024. The delegation will be accompanied by an expert and...
Promoting measures for reducing drug supply and demand worldwide: Pompidou Group Italian Presidency
In an address to the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna (14-22 March 2024), the Italian Presidency of the Council of Europe’s drug policy cooperation platform stressed that for drug supply reduction, worldwide efforts must be aimed at the control of drug...
Presidential 'election' in Russia: "Let's not recognise Putin’s legitimacy as president", PACE President says
Following the Presidential election in Russia, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos today made the following statement: "Some minutes ago, the polling stations in the so-called ‘elections’ in the Russian Federation closed and the exit polls announced the projections. And there was little surprise...
Venice Commission adopts opinion on the rule of law requirements of amnesties with particular reference to the amnesty bill in Spain
The European Commission for Democracy Through Law of the Council of Europe, better known as the Venice Commission, adopted today, during its 138th plenary meeting, an opinion on the rule of law requirements of amnesties, with particular reference to the parliamentary bill “on the organic law on...
10 years of Crimea’s illegal annexation: Statement by the Congress President
The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, has made the following statement: “Ten years ago, on 16 March 2014, the illegal referendum in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, organised at Russian gunpoint, set off a spiral of violence leading...
Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Framework Convention
Statement by Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić on the occasion of the finalisation of the Convention
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has published the case-by-case decisions taken during the Committee’s meeting from 12 to 14 March to supervise the implementation of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights. The Committee of Ministers adopted 40 decisions...
Committee of Ministers condemns Russia for Alexey Navalnyy’s death, calls for independent international investigation
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has strongly condemned the Russian authorities for the recent death of Alexey Navalnyy. At the Committee’s latest quarterly meeting on the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights, it called for an international commission...
Venice Commission plenary under way
During its plenary session on Friday and Saturday, 15- 16 March in Venice, the Venice Commission is set to adopt six draft opinions concerning: Bosnia and Herzegovina on certain questions relating to the functioning of the Constitutional Court; Bulgaria on the Code of Ethical Conduct for Judges...
Secretary General opens first Co-ordination Meeting on Combating Anti-Muslim Hatred and Discrimination
“There is no doubt that while many Muslim communities are well-integrated throughout Europe, contributing to civic life and being appreciated for it, there remain many instances of prejudice, discrimination and even violence targeted against Muslim people because of their faith. Following recent...
Human rights of trans people: increased visibility and legal recognition contrast with lived experience of discrimination, violence
“Realising the rights of trans people is a matter of applying human rights equally to everyone, and states have the primary responsibility to lift the barriers trans people are facing in exercising their human rights”, said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović,...
Grants to Armenian municipalities hosting refugees: Call for projects
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, in line with its commitment to support Karabakh Armenians and its “readiness to assist, using all statutory, cooperation and political tools at its disposal” (Declaration 7 (2023) has launched a grant scheme in support of municipalities hosting...
Child human rights defenders want to be heard by their governments: Council of Europe study
Child human rights defenders want governments to start listening to their opinions, ideas, and proposals in the development of laws and policies. This is one of the main findings of a new report: “Children as defenders of human rights: a study on Council of Europe member states” published today....
Meeting UN Secretary General, PACE President urges more effective co-operation with the world body
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos has urged more effective and properly institutionalised co-operation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe during a meeting yesterday in New York with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is a former member of PACE. Such co-operation would...
Lanzarote Convention: a tool to fight child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse worldwide
The Council of Europe and the Permanent Mission of Iceland to the United Nations in Geneva have hosted an event “Join states in a class of excellence to fight child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse” on the margins of the 55th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The event aimed at...
Liechtenstein should develop anti-discrimination legislation and better inform and support migrants
In a report published on 12 March, the Council of Europe anti-racism commission (ECRI) calls on the Liechtenstein authorities to develop specific anti-discrimination legislation and establish an information and support centre for migrants (see also the German version of the report). ECRI notes a...
Republic of Moldova: GRECO calls for improvements in preventing corruption in the central government and the police
The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has acknowledged the progress achieved by the Republic of Moldova in setting up an institutional and legal framework to promote integrity and prevent corruption in the top executive functions of the central government and its law...
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 12 to 14 March. Cases proposed for detailed examination concern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia,...
The Council of Europe at 75
Ambassador Dr Ion I. Jinga, the Permanent Representative of Romania to the Council of Europe, has written an opinion article on the history and achievements of the Organisation, as it approaches its 75th anniversary on 5 May 2024. The article, aimed at raising the Organisation’s visibility,...