News 2019
Azerbaijan ratifies Convention to protect children against sexual violence
Azerbaijan has become the 46th state to have ratified the Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (“Lanzarote Convention”). Today, the Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Fakhraddin Ismayilov, has deposited the...
Greece: Criminal justice system inadequate to counter corruption
Following heavy criticism against Greece from the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for having downgraded and softened its anti-corruption legislation, GRECO published a report today concluding that...
Drahoslav Štefánek: new Special Representative for Migration and Refugees
Today, on the occasion of International Migrants Day, the Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić announced the appointment of Ambassador Drahoslav Štefánek as her new Special Representative on migration and refugees. The Council of Europe has followed the situation of refugees and migrants...
Serbia: Roma situation still alarming
Serbia’s legal framework for protecting national minorities is solid, Serbian authorities are making commendable efforts to improve the situation of Roma-communities and to regulate the status of stateless persons, to develop cultural initiatives and minority media. However, the contrast between...
Poland: "globally unsatisfactory" anti-corruption compliance
Poland has been ranked as “globally unsatisfactory” with respect to a follow up assessment published today on corruption concerning members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. The report comes from the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), which determines that Poland...
Committee of Ministers adopts recommendation on guardianship for unaccompanied children in migration situations
The Committee of Ministers has adopted a Recommendation to member States on effective guardianship for unaccompanied and separated children in the context of migration. Migration puts children, especially unaccompanied or separated from their parents, in a very vulnerable position. Children are...
Child Poverty: Committee of Ministers statement
The Committee of Ministers expressed concern about the very high rates of child poverty in Europe and the growing inequalities that particularly affect them. Children have been more severely affected by the austerity measures put in place in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. They incur a...
Commissioner Mijatović urges Azerbaijani authorities to respect freedom of expression, improve access to lawyers and uphold rights of internally displaced persons
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published today the report on her visit to Azerbaijan, with recommendations on how to ensure freedom of expression, increase the number of lawyers and the quality of legal assistance in the country, and empower internally...
Secretary General: more states should join North-South Centre to better combat global challenges
Speaking at an event in Strasbourg to mark the 30th anniversary of Lisbon´s North-South Centre, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić called on states from Europe and its neighbouring regions to join the Council of Europe’s North-South Centre to better tackle global...
What role of prosecutors in the fight against corruption?
At its plenary meeting in Paris on 21-22 November 2019, the CCPE adopted its Opinion No. 14 on the role of prosecutors in fighting corruption and related economic and financial crime which takes into account existing standards and instruments of the Council of Europe and other international...
Human Rights Day, 10 December 2019
Statement by David Zalkaliani, President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
Venice Commission: Gianni Buquicchio re-elected president
Gianni Buquicchio (Italy) has been re-elected President of the Council of Europe's European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), over which he has presided since 2009. A widely recognized public law expert, Mr. Buquicchio helped to ensure the Commission’s founding in 1990....
Human Rights Day: Council of Europe leaders highlight 70 years of the European Convention on Human Rights
To mark Human Rights Day (10 December), the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and the President of the Organisation’s Parliamentary Assembly, Liliane Maury Pasquier, have issued a joint statement looking forward to the 70th anniversary of the European Convention...
Implementing ECHR judgments: latest decisions from the Council of Europe’s 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 33 decisions concerning 18 member states at the end of its quarterly human rights...
Shrinking space for freedom of peaceful assembly
Over the last year, protests have multiplied across the planet, from Chile to Hong-Kong. Europe is not left out of this wave of demonstrations. Protests are taking different forms, from large and repeated demonstrations to the occupation of public places and spontaneous assemblies. The use of...
Turkey: Protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law – even when fighting terrorism
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, has underlined the importance of protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law – including when fighting terrorism – in Turkey as in all other Council of Europe member states. Speaking at a conference on Turkey’s...
GRECO president: “Politicians should lead by example, without ifs or buts”
To mark International Anti-Corruption Day, held every year on 9 December, Marin Mrčela, president of the Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO), said: “In too many countries we are witnessing corruption or unethical behaviours by the very persons who are in charge of...
Venice Commission: Ukraine, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, non-recognised territories
Constitutional experts of the Venice Commission have concluded that while there exists a clear obligation under international law for all States and international organisations not to recognise an annexation, explicitly or implicitly, this does not necessarily oblige the Parliamentary Assembly of...
Bosnia and Herzegovina must immediately close the Vučjak camp and take concrete measures to improve the treatment of migrants in the country
“The living conditions of hundreds of human beings in the improvised Vučjak camp are shameful. That camp should have never been opened in the first place. It is now urgent to relocate these people and provide them with decent accommodations. I was assured by the State Minister of Security that...
Speaking European - our languages, ourselves
From a baby's first words to the greatest literature, our ability to connect and express ourselves through language is an essential part of our humanity. Without words, how can we express our feelings, care for our families and loved ones, build prosperous and fair societies, or fight for our...
