Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers

Armenia hands over chairmanship to Austria

Strasbourg, 14.11.2013 - The Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe passed from Armenia to Austria today, at a meeting at the Organisation's Strasbourg headquarters, attended by representatives of its 47 member States.

Before handing over the chairmanship to his successor, the outgoing Chair Edward Nalbandian, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Armenia, gave an overview of his country's achievements during its chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.

The new Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Michael Spindelegger, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria, presented the priorities of the Austrian chairmanship which will run for six months as of today.

At a brief ceremony during the meeting, Minister Spindelegger solemnly handed over to the Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, the instrument of Austria's ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention (CETS no. 210). Austria pledged that, during its chairmanship, it would "promote measures for an early entry into force of the Convention", which requires 10 ratifications. (more...)

- File on the Austrian Chairmanship
- Photo gallery

Back 02.10.2013 - Reform of the Court of Human Rights: opening for signature of Protocol No. 16

Council of Europe
European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights

Protocol No. 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was opened for signature by member states at a ceremony held today at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg.

This treaty was the result of work carried out on the reform of theEuropean Court of Human Rights. At the conferences held inInterlaken (2010), Izmir (2011) and Brighton (2012) the member States stressed the necessity of supplementary measures to ensure that the Convention system remained effective and could continue protecting the rights and freedoms of over 820 million people in Europe. They also reiterated that effective implementation of the Convention had to be based on the fundamental principle of subsidiarity: the States had to remedy violations effectively at national level. Accordingly, Protocol 16 allows the States Parties' highest courts to ask the Court for an advisory opinion on questions of principle relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols relevant to cases before them.

Protocol 16 was signed at the ceremony today by the following states: Armenia, Finland, France, Italy, San Marino, Slovakia and Slovenia. It will enter into force once it has been ratified by ten States Parties to the Convention. 

Press release

Strasbourg 02/10/2013
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page