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Join the European Day of Justice!
Since 2004, the Council of Europe and European Union have celebrated the European Day of Justice around 25 October throughout Europe, for the benefit of European citizens, students and justice professionals. Free information and advice days will be organised by lawyers and notaries, in...
“In the 1970s, it was a very hostile environment”: New film marks 40 years of progress on LGBTI rights
On the 40th anniversary of the landmark Dudgeon v. the United Kingdom judgment from the European Court of Human Rights, the 47-nation Council of Europe has published a set of videos on the case and its widespread impact on the rights of LGBTI people. “In 1981, for the first time ever, the...
Online course offers best techniques for heritage
A newly launched course is giving academics, professionals, activists and hobbyists a way to learn the best techniques for facing challenges in their work. The e-learning platform ST21Mooc is an e-learning heritage management tool which takes learners though the European Heritage Strategy 2021 in...
Speakers of parliament - an unparalleled responsibility
The functioning and work of parliaments, as well as the legislative texts they produce must enable human rights, democracy, and the rule of law to exist and flourish. This was a central message of Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić’s address today, as she opened the European Conference of...
European states must stand up against pushbacks and the attempt to legalise them
“Member states must take a stand against pushbacks at borders and clearly oppose attempts to legalise this illegal practice”, said today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović. Human rights violations against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants at the borders of...
Managing persons accused or convicted of a sexual offence: Council of Europe issues new guidelines
The Council of Europe today issued a Recommendation to its 47 members states containing new guidelines regarding the assessment, management and reintegration of persons accused or convicted of a sexual offence. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers, the Recommendation aims to guide national...
Council of Europe recommends measures to protect children against radicalisation
As some children may be particularly vulnerable to messaging by terrorist associations and groups, including via social media, the Council of Europe has recommended a set of measures to help its 47 member states better protect children against radicalisation for the purpose of terrorism. Prepared...
Human trafficking: UK urged to better identify and assist victims
The Council of Europe’s expert group on human trafficking has urged the United Kingdom to take further steps to improve the identification of trafficking victims, to make sure victims receive legal and psychological assistance and to ensure that more traffickers are convicted. These are among the...
Secretary General highlights poverty and trafficking as human rights violations
How many more people will be cast into poverty? How many more people will find themselves trafficked as a result? Speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and European Anti-Trafficking Day 2021, Marija Pejčinović Burić called for essential coordination...
European Social Charter 60th anniversary: Committee of Ministers Declaration
Adopted on 13 October 2021 at the Ministers’ Deputies’ 1414th meeting
Congress President: “The European Social Charter now needs to develop an effective local anchorage”
60 years after the adoption of the European Social Charter, a multitude of challenges remain, especially regarding the local anchorage, underlined President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Leendert Verbeek, ahead of the Charter’s anniversary on October 18, 2021. When the Social...
Tackling human rights in the digital sphere: international seminar
An international seminar to be held on 18 October on the theme of “Human Rights in the digital sphere” will bring together experts from different legal systems and jurisdictions, judges of the European Court of Human Rights and governmental representatives from Europe and beyond to examine the...
Venice Commission holds hybrid plenary session
Meeting on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 October in Venice, the Council of Europe’s constitutional experts adopted – among other texts – an opinion on draft constitutional amendments in Serbia and an opinion on the legal protection of citizens in the Netherlands. Other opinions adopted concern the...
Social Charter 60th anniversary: the Social Constitution of Europe
Employment, housing, health, education, social protection and welfare rights: the European Social Charter - often referred to as the Social Constitution of Europe – is celebrating its 60th anniversary as a guardian of fundamental social and economic rights. The Charter, together with the European...
Committee of Ministers adopts recommendation on Revised European Sports Charter
The Committee of Ministers has adopted a recommendation on the Revised European Sports Charter submitted by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS). The revised version concludes a process initiated by the 15th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for sport in Tbilisi in...
Secretary General at Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism
Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić is taking part in the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism on 13 October 2021. She is making a speech and is taking part in the panel entitled “Countering contemporary antisemitism and other forms of racism online...
Slovenia: first report on implementation of the Istanbul Convention notes many positive measures
The first evaluation report of Slovenia’s implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (“the Istanbul Convention”) has been published together with the comments by Slovenian authorities. The report highlights numerous...
European and World Day against the Death Penalty: Joint declaration
Ahead of the European and World Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, have issued a joint declaration reaffirming the...
2021 Nobel Peace Prize: Statement by the Council of Europe Secretary General
The Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, today made the following statement: "I am delighted that the Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of...
Fundamental Rights Forum 2021: social rights, data protection and artificial intelligence among Council of Europe sessions
The Council of Europe will host a series of sessions at the hybrid Fundamental Rights Forum 2021 on 11 and 12 October. Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić will take part in the opening session of the multi-location event from 13h30 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on...
