Human Rights Law and Policy Division of the Council of Europe Homepage

Human Rights Law and Policy Division

www.coe.int/hrlawpolicy

Welcome to the Website of
the Human Rights Law and Policy Division

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Negotiators of the 47 Council of Europe member states and the European Union have finalised the draft accession agreement of the European Union to the European Convention on Human rights

Accession by the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights : Answers to frequently asked questions

Questionnaire on the implementation of its Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)4 to member States on the human rights of members of the armed forces

Questionnaire on the implementation of its Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity

Next meetings

4th meeting of the CDDH-AGE, 25-27 September 2013

Raoul Wallenberg Prize

Council of Europe "Raoul Wallenberg Prize"

Useful links

Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH)

Developing human rights law and policy at the European level is essential in order to ensure full and effective protection of human rights and the prevention of violations in our constantly evolving societies. The Council of Europe has a pioneering and unique role in this field, and a competitive advantage compared to other international organisations which allows to achieve particularly ambitious and ground-breaking results on a pan-European scale.

This is demonstrated by all Conventions, Recommendations, Guidelines and Declarations adopted – even recently - in the human rights field, and by the constant mainstreaming of the human rights dimension in all relevant Council of Europe standards.

The Human Rights Law and Policy Division is responsible for the secretariat of a number of intergovernmental committees in charge of the preparation of binding and non-binding legal instruments such as Conventions and Recommendations in the field of human rights law established under the authority of the CDDH. It is also responsible for the work on the Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights (CDDH-UE).

The Division is also in charge of processing the Secretary General’s inquiries under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the policy of the Organisation for the abolition of the Death Penalty in Europe and worldwide. Moreover, the Division is responsible for the cooperation on human rights issues between the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law and the European Union including the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations.

Publications

Link to our publications

Latest publication : "Manual on human rights and the environment"

Council of Europe

Human Rights
and Rule of Law