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Online Venice Commission plenary marks 30 years of newsworthy legal advice
Because of continued concerns over Covid-19, an “on location” celebration that was scheduled to mark 30 years of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission had to be postponed. Instead a virtual plenary session was held late last week. It resulted in the adoption of many newsworthy opinions and...
Minorities in Hungary: Roma need “urgent” help for education, housing and health care
In its latest opinion on Hungary, the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) found that persons belonging to the Roma minority face structural difficulties in all spheres of public life, including education, employment...
National minorities in Bulgaria: more needed to combat segregation and hate speech
Bulgaria has made progress in the implementation of the Framework Convention through advancing non-discrimination legislation, promoting education for Roma children and supporting religious rights. However, the legal framework for exercising minority cultural, linguistic and participation rights...
Digital solutions to fight COVID-19: shortcomings protecting privacy and personal data
A new Council of Europe report has identified a number of shortcomings in the protection of privacy and personal data in some of the legal and technical measures adopted by governments to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic among the 55 African, Latin-American and European countries which...
World Day against the Death Penalty, 10 October 2020: joint declaration by Secretary General and EU High Representative
Today on the World and European Day Against the Death Penalty, the European Union and the Council of Europe reaffirm their opposition to the use of capital punishment in all circumstances and call for the universal abolition of the death penalty. We welcome the continued decline in the use of the...
A ‘Living Instrument’ for Everyone: Advancing Equality for LGBTI persons
A conference to mark the 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights has taken place in Strasbourg. Entitled “A ‘Living Instrument’ for Everyone: The Role of the European Convention on Human Rights in Advancing Equality for LGBTI persons”, it was organised by the Council of...
Secretary General appoints Special Representative on Antisemitic and Anti-Muslim Hatred and Hate Crimes
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has appointed the Council of Europe’s Director of Communications Daniel Höltgen, to the new position of Special Representative on Antisemitic and Anti-Muslim Hatred and Hate Crimes. Commenting on the appointment, the Secretary General said: “On Friday it...
New study: Slovenians consider sexual abuse of children a serious problem, but nearly half would not be able to recognise its signs
A majority of Slovenians consider sexual abuse of children to be a serious problem, with nearly one in five having experienced at least one form of sexual abuse. However, awareness of this type of abuse is low, as parents don’t feel comfortable discussing it with their children, and schools don’t...
Even in difficult times, Partnership for Good Governance programme keeps delivering
An online event to reflect on the mid-term results of the second phase of the European Union and Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance (PGG), launched in 2019 for the Eastern Partnership region, started today under the title ‘Improving the lives of citizens through better Governance’....
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions from the 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 27 decisions concerning 13 member states during the meeting, including six...
