ECRI’s Statute provides that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and the European Union shall be invited to be represented in ECRI without the right to vote. Representatives of these institutions attend regularly ECRI’s plenary meeting.

In addition, any State benefiting from observer status to the Council of Europe which presents such a request, may, upon a favourable opinion of ECRI and following a decision of the Committee of Ministers, be invited to be represented in ECRI without the right to vote. The Holy See, Mexico and United States of America were granted observer status in ECRI. The criteria for the appointment of ECRI observers are the same as for the appointment of ECRI members (including independence, impartiality and recognised expertise). Guillaume Drago, from Panthéon-Assas Paris II University (France), is the observer in respect of the Holy See, the President of CONAPRED is the observer in respect of Mexico, and Clarence Lusane, from Howard University (Washington, DC), is the observer in respect of the United States of America.