The Parliamentary Assembly, along with the Committee of Ministers, is one of the two statutory bodies of the Organisation. It acts as the democratic conscience of Europe, speaking on behalf of Europe’s 700 million citizens through their elected representatives. It is sometimes regarded as the “driving force” of the Council of Europe, since it generates many ideas and initiatives which are subsequently taken up by other parts of the organisation. 

It is made up of delegations from the 46 member states which mirror the political balance in their home parliaments and holds four week-long plenary part-sessions each year. Though it has no power to pass binding laws, it debates and adopts recommendations, resolutions and opinions on any theme dealt with by the Council of Europe, including on the most topical or controversial issues.

The Assembly can demand action from the Committee of Ministers, with which it holds an ongoing dialogue, and its members have the power to question Presidents and Prime Ministers on any topic. It scrutinises the actions of governments, monitors how far member states are respecting the commitments they made on joining the Organisation, and can investigate particular human rights abuses in a member state if national inquiries are lacking or inadequate. It must also give its green light before any country can join the Council of Europe and has used this power to set conditions on membership, such as ending the death penalty. 

The Assembly acts as a champion of the European Convention on Human Rights, which it helped to draw up, demanding new protocols to deal with fresh human rights challenges, pressing states to implement rulings of the Strasbourg Court, and electing its judges to guarantee their independence and legitimacy. It also has the power to request opinions from legal experts in the Venice Commission on whether new laws in member states are compatible with the Council of Europe’s democratic and human rights standards. Assembly delegations regularly observe elections in member or partner countries as part of international election observation missions.

When invited, the Conference of INGOs participates in relevant committee meetings, in particular those of the Migration, Equality, Social Affairs and Legal Affairs Committees. This latter has also appointed a General Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

Just as in national parliaments, NGOs often provide valuable data and information when Assembly reports are being drafted and can be invited to give testimony at parliamentary hearings organised by the committees. They are able to inform and advise Assembly members in person during country visits and sessions in Strasbourg and actively contribute to the organisation of side-events and hearings to raise awareness of particular issues. In particular, national NGOs are often consulted by the rapporteurs preparing regular assessments of the countries subject to the Assembly’s monitoring procedure.

More widely, the Assembly is a stout defender of civil society and a champion of human rights defenders, both of whom may be under pressure in their home countries. It has created the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize to honour outstanding work by human rights defenders, and adopted a series of resolutions and recommendations on this topic, among which: