Committee of Ministers' (CM) website
User guide
Contents
Chapter I - General Information
The CM site users fall into two groups:
- those with access to public and classified information1 via a username and password
· Permanent Representations and Ministries of Council of Europe member and observer states
· Council of Europe staff members
· International Organisations: European Commission, OSCE
· Expert groups: Budget Committee, External Auditors;
- and those with access to public information only
· Parliamentarians, Congress members and other international institutions
· General public (usually NGOs and/or special interest groups, universities, students, researchers ….).
A. What information is available on the site?
· Latest news
· Information on the activities, composition, functioning and working methods of the Committee of Ministers and its subsidiary bodies
· Documentation and texts adopted by the Committee of Ministers
Please note: Most documents are available since 1996 or earlier. Recommendations and Resolutions are available since 1949.
· Meeting files containing the documentation for each meeting, since 2003
· Protocol lists and contact details and for Permanent Representations and Council of Europe Secretariat
· Links to:
- Factsheets on Council of Europe member states;
- topic and event files;
- other governmental and international organisations websites;
- other Council of Europe and Permanent Representation websites.
The CM website aims to provide an information service on all activities that specifically concern the Committee of Ministers. Please consult the Portal (http://www.coe.int) for general Council of Europe information.
The CM website contains both public and classified information. A username and password is required to see the latter.
Two types of account exist:
· a generic account which can be shared by members of the Permanent Representation and its Ministries.
This account gives access to:
- restricted and confidential information/documentation on the CM website; and
- the Council of Europe Activities Database (CEAD).
· a nominative account which is for individual use by members of Permanent Representations only.
This account gives access to:
- restricted and confidential information/documentation on the CM website; and
- the Council of Europe Intranet Portal.
It is possible to login with a nominative account on the CM website and with a generic account on the CEAD website, thus gaining access to all three sites simultaneously (CM, CEAD, Intranet).
2. How to obtain a username and password
The Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers manages both the generic and nominative accounts.
Members of Permanent Representations may contact cm@coe.int to request a nominative account.
Passwords for generic accounts are changed on an annual basis and are sent by post to the Permanent Representative, who is responsible for notifying the members of his/her Permanent Representation and the relevant Ministries.
Members of Ministries are requested to contact their Permanent Representation in Strasbourg for the generic username and password.
Please note: The login and password are case sensitive (please respect upper and lower case characters).
3. Where to login on the CM site
· Click on Restricted information in the Standard menu bar (Figure 1)
Figure 1
or
· In Latest documents, click on LOGIN in the Document menu bar (Figure 2)
Figure 2
Once you have logged on, your username is displayed and the Search form and menu buttons have an orange background (classified view) rather than a blue background (public view).
If you have any problems with your username or password, please contact cm@coe.int.
Members of Permanent Representations who have a nominative account may access the Intranet in the following ways:
· http://intranet.coe.int: select EXTRANET and then login;
or
· from the CM website or the Council of Europe Internet Portal, click on the INTRANET PORTAL button, select EXTRANET and then login.
Passwords for generic accounts are changed on an annual basis and are sent by post to the Permanent Representative.
Please send an e-mail to cm@coe.int to request a new password.
If you have forgotten your password, please send an e-mail to cm@coe.int.
The following menu bars provide navigation and functions throughout the site.
Figure 4
· Click on “Council of Europe” to go to the Council of Europe Internet Portal.
· Click on “Committee of Ministers” to go the CM home page.
Figure 5
This menu bar generally remains constant throughout the site.
Button name |
Description / Content / Action |
INTERNET PORTAL |
Go to the main Council of Europe Portal (http://www.coe.int) |
INTRANET PORTAL |
Go to the Council of Europe Intranet and select EXTRANET). A username and password are required to access this site (see Chapter III, A. “Login”). |
HOME |
Go to the CM site home page (http://www.coe.int/t/cm/home_en.asp) |
SITE HELP |
Go to the electronic version of this User Guide (http://www.coe.int/t/cm/help_en.asp) |
SITE EN FRANCAIS |
Go to the French version of the CM site (http://www.coe.int/t/cm/home_fr.asp) |
Figure 6
This menu bar generally remains constant throughout the site.
Button name |
Description / Content / Action | |
HOME |
Public information:
| |
Restricted information |
· Contact details for Permanent Representations and Council of Europe Secretariat
| |
ABOUT CM |
Public information about the composition, activities, functioning and working methods of the Committee of Ministers and its subsidiary bodies | |
MEETING SCHEDULE |
· Monthly calendar of CM meetings, with links to meeting documentation
| |
DOCUMENTS | ||
Latest documents |
Documents issued within the last 31 days | |
Documents A-Z index |
Documents listed by type (e.g. Decision), series (e.g. CM/Inf) or group (e.g. GR-PBA) | |
Adopted texts |
· Decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers: See decisions taken in the current year, listed by theme or date of issue
| |
· European Treaties / Conventions: Links to the Treaty Office website | ||
· Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers to member states: See all the Recommendations for the current year
| ||
Adopted texts cont’d |
· Replies from the Committee of Ministers to See the list in chronological order
| |
· Resolutions: See all the Resolutions for the current year
| ||
· Sessions and Summits: | ||
· Statements / Declarations / Press releases by or concerning the Committee of Ministers and the Chair of the Committee of Ministers | ||
· Terms of reference of Steering Committees and other supervisory bodies | ||
· Texts adopted at a specific meeting: | ||
Working and information documents |
· Plenary meetings: | |
Working and information documents cont’d |
· Documents for the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly: |
· Documents for the attention of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities: | |
· Information documents: | |
Bureau, Rapporteur & Working Groups |
· Bureau of the Ministers’ Deputies: |
· Rapporteur Groups (GR-PBA, GR-C etc): | |
· Working Parties and Liaison Committees (GT-REF.INST, CL-CEDH etc): | |
· Thematic Co-ordinators (TC-EG, | |
· Past Groups (GR-EDS, GR-EU etc): | |
· Others – Budget Committee |
Human Rights (DH) meetings |
· Links: |
· Meetings of the Committee of Ministers: | |
· Adopted texts: | |
· Press releases: | |
· Human Rights - General Information: | |
Basic texts, rules and procedures |
· Reference texts: |
· Rules: | |
· Administrative Procedures: |
Basic texts, rules and procedures cont’d |
· Other: |
· Publications: | |
CM Press Releases |
· Press releases concerning the CM |
CM SEARCH |
· Search and Advanced Search |
LINKS |
· Country information: |
· Permanent Representations, Organisations and Governments: | |
· Topics & Events files: | |
CONTACT US |
· Send an e-mail to the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers |
· Contact details of the Council of Europe | |
SECURITY |
· Login |
(Home page, About CM, Documents A-Z Index, ….)
Figure 11
Button name |
Description / Content / Action |
Print the web page currently displayed on the screen, without the site menu bars. | |
Send |
This button will automatically create an e-mail - which you may edit before sending - containing a link to the web page. The recipient will receive an updated version of the page each time he/she follows the link. |
FRANCAIS |
See the same page in French. |
Figure 12
Button name |
Description / Content / Action |
INTERNET VIEW |
Visible to Council of Europe staff members only. Allows staff to simulate the view of the website as seen by the general public (i.e. unclassified information only). |
LOGIN (LOGOUT) |
Login to have access to classified documents / information. |
Print the html version of the document currently displayed on the screen. | |
WORD / PDF |
This button only appears if a Word or PDF version of the document is available. |
SEND |
This button will automatically create an e-mail - which you may edit before sending - containing a link to the html version of the document. |
BOOKMARK |
Save a direct link to the document in your Favourites. |
RELATED DOCUMENTS |
This button only appears if other documents are linked to the document currently displayed on the screen.
|
FRANÇAIS |
See the same document in French. |
6. Search and Search results menu bar
Figure 13
Button name |
Description / Content / Action |
LOGIN (LOGOUT) |
Login to see classified documentation. |
INTERNET VIEW |
Visible to Council of Europe staff members only. Allows staff to simulate the view of the website as seen by the general public (i.e. unclassified information only). |
Print the list of documents which meet your search criteria, without the site menu bars. | |
SEND |
This button will automatically create an e-mail - which you may edit before sending - containing a link to the list of documents which meet your search criteria. The recipient will receive an updated version of the list each time he/she follows the link. |
BOOKMARK |
Save your search criteria in your Favourites. This allows you to perform the same search again without re-entering your search criteria. The results will always be up-to-date. |
FRENCH DOCUMENTS |
This button only appears if documents meeting the same search criteria also exist in French. |
The site exists in English and French, as do most of the documents and you may change language as follows.
· Click on the button SITE IN ENGLISH or SITE EN FRANÇAIS in the top menu bar. (Figure 14)
Figure 14
· After selecting one of the lists of document types or performing an Advanced Search, the same documents may be viewed in the alternative official language by clicking on the button FRENCH DOCUMENTS or DOCUMENTS ANGLAIS in the Search results menu bar. (Figure 15)
Figure 15
Please note: This option is not available if you have performed a simple search by keyword, for example “death penalty”, unless the keywords are identical in English and French.
· Most documents include a link to the alternative official language version. Click on the ENGLISH or FRANÇAIS button in the Document menu bar. (Figure 16)
Figure 16
Chapter IV – Finding What You Need
(http://www.coe.int/t/cm/SiteMap_en.asp)
The Site Map describes the information available and where to find it from the Standard Menu Bar. (See Chapter II and Chapter III, B. Site Navigation.)
Figure 17
This search tool is limited to documents produced by the Committee of Ministers and its subsidiary bodies. It is not case sensitive and you may type in upper or lower case.
If you are typing in French, please include any accents or replace them with an underscore ( _ )
Example: démocratie or d_mocratie
If a document exists in several languages, all language versions will be listed. If you wish to limit your search results to either English or French, please use the Advanced Search (Chapter IV, B.3.).
The "Reference/Keywords" field is not a full-text search and none of the following search syntax are recognised: “...” + * -
You may search by:
· document reference
· keywords from the document title
· keywords relating to its content (aleatory: subject to manual metadata tagging by the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers).
There are no spaces in our document references.
Example: If you are looking for CM(2000)52, this should be typed as cm(2000)52 and not cm (2000) 52.
Users with a generic or nominative account have the option to limit their search to a precise reference using the “Reference only” function.
Example: You wish to find CM(2006)1 but the search returns 300 documents: CM(2006)1, 10, 11, 12….. etc.
By selecting “Reference only” plus “Match exact” the search will return only 2 documents: CM(2006)1 and CM(2006)1 corrigendum. (Figure 18)
Figure 18
ii. Keywords from the document title or relating to its content
It is unnecessary to type complete phrases, a string of keywords is sufficient.
Example: to find documents concerning the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Switzerland, simply type “judges election court switzerland”
You may choose whether to search only for documents which contain all of your keywords or for all those which contain at least one of them.
Example 1: The “every word” option will find documents which contain all three words in the document title and/or in the metadata tags. (Figure 19)
Figure 19
Example 2: The “any word” option will find documents which contain at least one of the three words in the document title and/or in the metadata tags. (Figure 20)
Figure 20
Please note: It is not possible to search by document reference and keywords at the same time. (Figures 21 and 22)
Incorrect:
Figure 21
Correct:
or
Figure 22
The "Reference/Keywords" field may be used alone or in combination with the “Search period”.
You may search the whole database by leaving the Search period empty or limit your search to:
· several years
· a year
· several months
· an exact date.
Examples
To see documents issued in the current year, type the year (e.g. 2007) in the “Between” field and leave the second date field empty. (Figure 23)
Figure 23
To see documents issued between 2000 and today, type 2000 in the “Between” field and leave the second date field empty. (Figure 24)
Figure 24
To see documents issued between 2001 and 2003, type 2001 in the “Between” field and “2003” in the second date field. (Figure 25)
Figure 25
To see documents issued in 2005, type 2005 in both date fields. (Figure 26)
Figure 26
To see documents issued between 1 February 2007 and 30 April 2007, type 01/02/2007 in the “Between” field and 30/04/2007 in the second date field. (Figure 27)
Figure 27
To see documents issued on 7 May 1999, type 07/05/99 in both date fields. (Figure 28)
Figure 28
c. Pagination (number of search results per page)
Users with a generic or nominative account have the option to view all their search results on one page - rather than the default view of 20 search results per page – by deselecting the Pagination box before launching the search. (Figure 29)
Figure 29
Ctrl+F may then be used to search within the full list of documents found.
This button resets the search criteria to zero.
This button launches the search. Alternatively, you may simply hit the Enter8 key on your keyboard.
Users with a generic or nominative account have access to a rudimentary full-text search. (Figure 30)
Figure 30
This function is only available if an initial search, using the “Reference / Keywords” and / or “Search period” fields, has returned less than 600 documents; a full-text search is then possible within the documents retrieved.
Example: In the “Reference / Keywords” field, type “death penalty” and select a search period from 2005 to 2007. Hit Enter8 . (Figure 31)
Figure 31
The full text search now becomes available. (Figure 32)
Figure 32
Type “Benghazi hospital” and hit Search. (Figure 33)
Figure 33
Full text search results (Figure 34)
Figure 34
This search can be very slow and users are advised to refine their initial search as much as possible before launching the full-text search.
It is necessary to type complete phrases rather than a string of keywords. However, it is not case sensitive and you may type in upper or lower case. (Figures 35 and 36)
Incorrect:
Figure 35
Correct:
Figure 36
The following search syntax are not recognised: “...” + * -
Click on the “Advanced search” button to increase your search options. (Figure 37)
Figure 37
In addition to the functions described above (Chapter IV, B.1 and B.2), the Advanced Search allows:
· a cross-referenced search based on any of the following criteria: reference / keywords, search period, document type, language, subject, author;
· a search for documents produced by certain other Council of Europe sectors (Commissioner for Human Rights, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Secretary General, …).
Please see sections B.1 and B.2 for details of the basic search functions (Reference/keywords, Search period, Pagination, Clear all button, Search button).
You may choose to search only for a specific type of document, for example: decisions, recommendations, reports, agendas, …. (Figure 38)
Figure 38
You may choose to search only for documents in English or French. (Figure 39)
Figure 39
If a document only exists in one official language, it will appear in the list of search results with the mention “Anglais uniquement” or “French only”.
iii. Subject: Theme, Entity, Country, Event
The subject is divided into 4 categories, which may be cross-referenced.
This field lists the main topics covered by the Council of Europe.
Users with a generic or nominative account may choose to view the Theme list in one of two ways:
· alphabetical order (default view) (Figure 40)
Figure 40
or
· hierarchical / departmental order, based on the Council of Europe’s organisation chart. (Figure 41)
Figure 41
To change the view from alphabetical to hierarchical, click on 
To change the view from hierarchical to alphabetical, click on 
This field lists the various organs, institutions, Partial Agreements, officials, structures etc that constitute the Council of Europe, together with other intergovernmental, non-governmental, regional and sub-regional organisations. (Figure 42)
Figure 42
This field lists countries and regions. (Figure 43)
Figure 43
This field lists various types of events and meetings. (Figure 44)
Figure 44
This field is based on the Council of Europe organisation chart and allows users to:
· restrict their search to documents produced by one specific sector, for example, the Commissioner for Human Rights
or
· widen their search to include documents produced by other Council of Europe sectors.
Please note: This database does not contain all the documents produced by the Council of Europe.
Please see http://www.coe.int/t/e/general/sitemap.asp for links to the websites of other Council of Europe sectors.
The Search and Advanced Search are set by default to search for documents issued by the Committee of Ministers. (Figure 45)
Figure 45
Select “All sectors” if you wish to include documents from other Council of Europe sectors or if you do not know which sector produced the documents for which you are searching.
This field allows users to restrict their search to documents produced by a specific group, committee etc, depending on the chosen Sector.
Example: If the Sector is Committee of Ministers, you may select to only see documents produced by the Rapporteur Group on Democracy. (Figure 46)
Figure 46
b. Performing a cross-referenced search
You may select one criterion or cross-reference several criteria.
Example: To find documents concerning the death penalty in the United States of America, you could select:
Sector = All Sectors; Theme = Death penalty; Country = United States of America; Language = English (Figure 47)
Figure 47
The more choices you make, the less results you will receive. If the results are not satisfactory, try widening your search by removing or modifying one of the search criterions.
c. Storing and re-using your search criteria
If you wish to perform the same search on a regular basis, you may save your search criteria by saving it as a BOOKMARK. (Figure 48)
Figure 48
You may also e-mail your search criteria to a third party - see Chapter V, C.
C. Meeting information and documentation
The Meeting Schedule (see Chapter III, B.3. - Standard menu bar) details the forthcoming meetings of the Committee of Ministers, their Deputies and Rapporteur and Working groups. It also provides a link to the documentation for each meeting.
1. Finding the documents associated with a meeting
a. Meetings taking place within the next 2 months
All meetings for the current and following month can be found in the Meeting Schedule.
Example: To see all the documentation for the 1000th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies, click on 1000th meeting in the Meeting Schedule. (Figure 49)
Figure 49
If there are more than 10 documents, they will be sorted by type of document, for example: Notes on the Agenda, Reports etc. You may expand all the document lists by clicking 
or select specific lists by clicking 
. (Figure 50)
Figure 50
The HTML version of Agendas and Convocations contain direct links to most of the documents required for the meeting. However, it is also recommended to click the “RELATED DOCUMENTS” button in the Document menu bar (see Chapter III. B.5), as other reference documents may be listed there.
If you wish to find the meeting file for a past plenary meeting, click on “
Previous meetings” in the Meeting Schedule. If you know the meeting number, you may type it directly. If you know the date of the meeting, select the appropriate month/year. (Figure 51)
Figure 51
If you wish to find the meeting file for a Rapporteur or Working Group:
· click on “Bureau, Rapporteur & Working Groups” in the Standard menu bar (see Chapter III, B.3.);
· select the group and “Sort by: document type and chronological order”;
· if necessary, change the Search period and select “Document” – “Event Announcement”. (Figure 52)
Figure 52
All of the document lists provided in the Standard menu bar (see Chapter III, B.3.) are modifiable. The default setting is the type of document (e.g. Recommendations) plus the current year. You may change the search dates (see Chapter IV, B.1.b. – Search period) and/or search for a specific reference or keyword (see Chapter IV, B.1.a. – Reference / Keywords). Some lists also propose a further cross-reference by document type or subject.
Example: To see all the meeting reports of the Rapporteur Group on Democracy concerning Serbia since 2005:
o open the Bureau, Rapporteur & Working Groups list
o select GR-DEM
o type 2005 in the Search period Between box
o select Document = Synopsis
o select Country = Serbia
o hit Enter8 (Figure 53)
Figure 53
If you know the reference, type it without spaces in the Search (see B.1 – Search).
Rapporteur and Working Group references contain a dash:
Examples:
gr-c(2005)cb2
gt-ref.inst(2006)4
tc-prog(2007)1
Recommendation references are always “Rec” (not “Recommendation”):
Examples:
Rec(2001)6
RecChL(2007)3
Resolution references are always “Res” (not “Resolution”):
Examples:
Res(2007)7
ResCMN(2004)9
Documents issued before 2000 have a two-digit year:
Examples:
CM(91)30
Res(89)3
Documents issued since 2000 have a four-digit year:
Examples:
CM(2003)57
Rec(2000)26
If you know the type of document (e.g. decision, CM document), use the “Documents A-Z index” or the appropriate document list (see http://www.coe.int/t/cm/SiteMap_en.asp for details).
3. From another Council of Europe sector
If the document was not issued by the Committee of Ministers, go to the Advanced Search and change the Sector accordingly (see Chapter IV, B.3.a.iv). You may also add the reference, if known, in the “Reference / Keywords” field.
Please see Chapter IV, C.
5. Distributed in the meeting room or by post
These documents bear the reference “DD” (documents distributed). They can be found:
· in the document list “Working and information documents” under “Plenary meetings”
or
· in the “Documents A-Z index” under “D”.
6. Issued within the last 31 days
See “Latest documents” in the Standard menu bar (see Chapter III, B.3).
· Type the subject in the Search “Reference / Keywords” field (see Chapter IV, B.).
or
· Use a combination of the Subject fields in the Advanced Search (see Chapter IV, B.3.a.iii). These criteria can also be cross-referenced with keywords in the “Reference / Keywords” field.
or
· See the Committee of Ministers Thematic Activity Report: http://www.coe.int/T/CM/system/WCDdoc.asp?Ref=StatRep00&Sector=CM&Lang=en.
or
· See the public files prepared by the Directorate of Communication under “Topics & Events files” in the Standard menu bar.
Chapter V – Downloading, Printing and Sending Documents
A. Downloading documents onto your computer
Most documents exist in html plus Microsoft Word or PDF. If you wish to download the Word or PDF version onto your computer:
· Right click the Word or PDF document directly from the icon
or 
- select Save Target As… - choose where you wish to save the document on your computer – Save.
Alternatively, if you have already opened the html version of the document:
· Right click on the Word or PDF button in the Document menu bar and then proceed as above. (Figure 54)
Figure 54
· Right click the Word or PDF icon or and then select Print Target.
Alternatively, if you have already opened the html version, the following menu bar is available: (Figure 55)
Figure 55
· Right-click on the WORD or PDF button in the Document menu bar and then select Print Target.
· Documents and web pages can be printed in HTML format by clicking on the PRINT button in the Document menu bar or by clicking Ctrl+P (the latter option will allow you to print a selection of the text rather than the whole document).
C. Sending documents or search results to others
1. Sending a specific document
· Open the HTML version of the document and then click the SEND button in the Document menu bar. This will automatically create an e-mail - which you may edit before sending - containing the reference, title and link to the document. (Figure 56)
Figure 56
Please note: if the document is classified “CM restricted” or “CM confidential”, the recipient must have an appropriate username and password to view the document. (See Chapter III – Getting started.)
2. Sending the results of a search
· If you wish to send the results of a search to a third party, click on the SEND button in the Search results menu bar. (Figure 57)
Figure 57
This will automatically create an e-mail - which you may edit before sending - containing a link with the search criteria.
The recipient will receive an updated list of search results each time he/she follows the link.
Please note: Only unclassified documents will be displayed unless the recipient logs on with a username and password (See Chapter III – Getting started).
Chapter VI – FAQs and Troubleshooting
A. Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
1. How do I know that I have the most recent version of a document?
If a more recent version or a corrigendum exists for the document you are consulting, a pop-up window will appear with a link to the most recent version. (Figure 58)
Figure 58
2. I clicked on a specific document reference but received a page giving “All versions and additional documents”. Why?
If the system does not know which language or version (prov, add, ...) of the document to display, it will display all the available options to enable you to choose accordingly. (Figure 59)
Figure 59
3. Where can I find documents from Steering or Expert Committees, the Secretary General, the Parliamentary Assembly etc.?
A full list of Council of Europe websites can be found at:
http://www.coe.int/t/e/general/sitemap.asp
Documents from the Commissioner of Human Rights, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Secretary General and various other sectors can be found from the Advanced Search. It is necessary to change the Author-Sector before launching your search.
A full list of Steering and Expert Committee websites (public and restricted access) is being compiled by the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers. This will be made available to all Permanent Representations, together with username and password details, in the near future.
4. I typed in a document reference but the document was not found or too many results appeared.
Please see Chapter IV, E.1. – Searching for a document by reference.
If you have a generic or nominative account, select the “Reference only” box in the Search (see Chapter IV, B.1.a.i. – Document reference).
1. When I click on the Word / PDF version nothing happens or an empty page is displayed.
This is usually due to a pop-up blocker in your browser.
· If using Internet Explorer, click on Tools – Pop-up Blocker – Turn off Pop-up Blocker.
· If using Mozilla Firefox, click on Tools – Options – Content – deselect the Block Popup Windows option or add the CM site to your list of Allowed Sites.
The use of web tool bars (Google, Yahoo etc) may also cause this problem. If you use such a tool bar, please deactivate it while using the CM site.
Chapter VII – More Information
You can contact the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers directly at cm@coe.int.
Your comments, questions, suggestions and requests are essential to ensure that the site best meets your needs. Please send all feedback to cm@coe.int.
1 Classified documents are marked “CM restricted” or “CM confidential”. |
icon.