Secretary General of the Council of Europe Congress Mathieu Mori presented the recent Congress work on the link between local democracy and the rule of law at the 2024 European Future Talks series held at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge University, on 18 April 2024.

The Talks were the occasion to present the role local and regional authorities play, not only as subject to the rule of law, but also actors implementing it. Indeed, some local and regional authorities have powers which necessitate a careful implementation of the rule of law, such as powers of police or powers of detention. Respect for the rule of law also implies that citizens democratically and freely elect their local and regional authorities, that laws are uniformly applied by all state institutions, that no one is above the law and that no citizen is discriminated against or left behind. It is the role of local and regional elected representatives to ensure that this balance is fully respected.

The conference was also the opportunity to stress how local authorities can help with another aspect of the rule of law: the implementation of judicial decisions. Decisions by the European Court of Human Rights sometimes necessitate changes of policies and practice at local level to comply with provisions of the European Convention of human rights. The Congress plays a role in facilitating the political dialogue with local leaders to help them implement the ECHR decisions.

To know more, find here the Congress report on “Local and Regional Authorities as Actors and Guarantors of the Rule of Law”