Role and powers of National Human Rights Institutions and Other National Mechanisms
Background information
- State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law (2016), Report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
- Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors
- How to strenghten soft powers for press freedom: National Human Rights Institutions, Report by Dr. Joan Barata Mir
- Online Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists
- The principles which can be drawn from the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
- Case-law study on Freedom of expression and defamation (2016)
Robert Spano, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights - Freedom of expression and protection of journalistic sources
High level Seminar
Freedom of expression – role and powers of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and other national mechanism.
The Council of Europe and the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) organised a high level seminar as a follow-up activity to the SG’s report on the State of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe 2015.
In his report, the Secretary General of the CoE proposed a two-year Europe-wide programme to support national mechanisms to protect journalists, such as ombudsman institutions, press commissioners and non-governmental organisations. The programme pursues several goals:
- to strengthen the capacities of such mechanism
- to promote networking and exchanges of experience in the area of safety of journalists;
- to raise the visibility of the issue in the member States.
This Seminar is a first step to identify synergies between the work of the CoE and the ENNHRI in the promotion and protection of the freedom of expression. It was exploratory in nature and, with safety of journalists as a starting point, also focused on other aspects of freedom of expression. A first objective is to foster exchange of experiences and practices among participants, to identify common interests and concerns, as well as challenges to co-operation
Françoise Tulkens, Former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights - Freedom of expression, foundation of democratic society VS hate speech
Angelika Nussberger, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights - Freedom of expression and defamation
