Newsroom
World Refugee Day: Council of Europe head calls for renewed effort to protect migrant children from sexual abuse
Ahead of World Refugee Day, Secretary General called on Europe’s governments to make protection of migrant and asylum-seeking minors against sexual abuse a top priority. “Child protection is a moral duty and legal obligation for all European states. Last year, an estimated 300,000 migrant and...
International data protection conference: Mauritius joins “Convention 108”
The Republic of Mauritius today became the second non-European state – after Uruguay in 2013 – to ratify the Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, also known as “Convention 108”, and its Additional Protocol, taking the total number of...
CEB to hold its annual Joint Meeting in Strasbourg
The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) is holding its annual Joint Meeting today. The meeting is taking place in Strasbourg, at the invitation of the French government. As in previous years, the event is bringring together the members of the Bank’s Governing Board and Administrative...
European Convention on Human Rights remains crucial: annual legal HELP conference
The European Convention on Human Rights is crucial to maintaining stability and liberty on the continent, and the Council of Europe’s task is to help its States implement it, to “sow the Convention into the national legal fabric”, said Council of Europe’s Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland...
European states must do more to stop websites advertising child sexual abuse
European governments will spare no effort in assuring that competent Internet authorities and bodies prevent registration of, identify and remove any web addresses which self-evidently, sometimes even in their names, advertise child abuse material. This is a key conclusion of a meeting of the...
Anti-corruption: Germany praised for progress in bribery legislation but more transparency in party financing needed
In a report published today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) praises Germany for adopting legislation that should pave the way for its ratification of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and its Additional Protocol. According to GRECO, Germany has...
Erosion of rule of law threatens human rights protection in Poland
“Recent far-reaching changes to Poland’s legal and institutional framework threaten human rights and undermine the rule of law, on which the protection of human rights ultimately depends. Lawmakers and the Government should urgently change course”, said today Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe...
Conference addresses community involvement in prison and probation work
The 21st Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services – which is being held in Zaandam (Netherlands) on 14 and 15 June – is addressing community involvement in prison and probation work, including the role of families of offenders and the need to counter the negative...
Committee of Ministers reviews the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
On 7 and 8 June, representatives of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe held their 1259th “Human Rights” meeting at which they examined the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in keeping with the supervisory role of the Committee of Ministers, under Article...
Euro 2016 football violence: Council of Europe calls for better police cooperation
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, has called on European governments to improve police cooperation after the violent clashes between football hooligans in Marseille last Saturday. “What happened in Marseille is absolutely unacceptable. Europe can and must do more...
Attack on the LGBTI community in Orlando
Statement by the Chair of the Committee of Ministers
Parliamentary Assembly Summer Session
Addresses by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas are among the highlights of the session taking place in Strasbourg on 20-24 June
New ECHR/HELP training videos – one on asylum and the second on terrorism
The European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe’s HELP programme (Human rights Education for Legal Professionals) have released two new training videos in the pilot series COURTalks-disCOURs. The 25-minute videos, based on educational talks from lawyers at the Court, are geared to...
Iceland: ratify the Disabilities Convention and strengthen the human rights protection system
“Iceland should ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and align its legislation and practice with international standards and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Abolishing full deprivation of legal capacity and plenary guardianship of persons...
Secretary General expresses his condolences to the United States
"Europeans across the Continent are shocked and saddened by the cruel attack in Orlando in which so many innocent people were killed. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims, and with all who are suffering after this horrific homophobic and transphobic hate crime. The...
Police in Poland, foreign NGOs in Russia
Venice Commission adopts new opinions
20 June is the World Refugee Day: we need your words!
On 20 June countries around the world organise events to raise awareness about the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, conflict and persecution. The Intercultural Cities (ICCs) are working hard on ensuring inclusive...
Internet: Web addresses promoting sex crimes against children must be stopped
Governments and internet bodies must prevent web addresses being registered which openly refer to child sexual abuse, according to the Secretary General of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland. Speaking at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG 2016) in Brussels,...
Secretary General Jagland at the OSCE: When politics stall, the human rights convention moves us forward
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, highlighted the value of the European Convention on Human Rights and called on the 57 OSCE participating States to “put these shared standards and common laws at the heart of our...
Council of Europe at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance
The European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG 2016) is bringing together representatives of national authorities, industry, civil society and academia to discuss Internet policies, including the challenges in upholding human rights online, in Brussels on 9 and 10 June. On 9 June the...
