The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. Since its foundation in 1949, the organisation has created a common legal space, centred on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), across its 46 member states. This represents a death penalty-free zone for more than 700 million people. ­

Our number one priority: supporting Ukraine

• Russia’s war against Ukraine, launched on 24 February 2022, marked the return to armed aggression on a scale not seen since 1945. On 25 February 2022, the Committee of Ministers suspended Russia’s rights of representation at the Council of Europe and on 16 March, Russia was excluded from the organisation due to its blatant violations of the Council of Europe Statute.
• In the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression, our priority is to support Ukraine and its people, including through a dedicated Ukraine Action Plan “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction”. The Council of Europe Development Bank is also helping Ukraine in its recovery efforts and other member states in accommodating refugees from Ukraine.
• The European Court of Human Rights is currently the only international tribunal dealing with allegations of human‐rights violations by Russia in the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Court retains jurisdiction for the human rights violations by Russia that were committed before 16 September 2022 on the basis of its residual jurisdiction. The Court has processed several inter-State cases concerning the Russian war on Ukraine and also many individual cases alleging human rights violations in that context.
• In May 2023, 43 States and the European Union established the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine as an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe. Currently, 45 States (most recently Australia) and the European Union participate in the work of the Register.
• A Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine was adopted at the Diplomatic Conference hosted by Council of Europe and the Netherlands in December 2025. The International Claims Commission for Ukraine will be the administrative body set up within the framework of the Council of Europe. It will review, assess and decide on claims for compensation of damage, loss or injury caused by internationally wrongful acts committed by the Russian Federation in or against Ukraine. It will determine the amount of compensation, if any, which is due in each case.
• On 25 June 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Council of Europe and signed a landmark agreement with Secretary General Alain Berset, on establishing a Special Tribunal  for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The Special Tribunal will be set up within the framework of the Council of Europe with the mandate to prosecute senior political and military leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine —filling a crucial gap left by limits to the ICC's jurisdiction and holding top decision-makers accountable for the aggression.
• Further to the Declaration on the Situation of the Children of Ukraine (Appendix II to the Reykjavík Declaration), on 5 February 2025 the Secretary General has appointed Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjord Gylfadóttir (Iceland) as his Special Envoy on the situation of children of Ukraine. Her mandate has been extended for another year, until February 2027.

New Democratic Pact for Europe

• The New Democratic Pact for Europe (the Pact) is a strategic and political initiative to strengthen democracy’s foundations and innovate its forms to counter the current democratic backsliding. At a time when European societies are facing these threats, democratic security is the first line of defence.
• In its first phase, the Pact serves as a collective consultation process, which shapes proven solutions into broader initiatives and also identifies new measures to amplify the benefits of democracy and restore trust. This extensive consultation process involves governments, parliamentarians, regions, cities, international partners, the private sector, experts, academics, civil society organisations and citizens.
• The consultations are running throughout 2026 and are built around three pillars:
• Learning and practising democracy to strengthen institutions and empower those involved, fostering civic space and new formats for practising democracy and harnessing the potential of AI for democratic participation;
• Protecting democracy to deepen resilience and generate greater trust, e.g. by addressing online disinformation hate speech and foreign interference; boosting anti-corruption efforts, as well as defending judicial independence and social justice.
• Innovating democracy to anticipate and address future trends through collective foresight and an evidence-based approach.

Main entities

• Everyone has the ultimate right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to uphold their fundamental rights and freedoms.
• The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has overseen the implementation of 25,000 judgments and decisions from the Court, benefitting millions of people across the continent in many different ways.
• The Committee of Ministers is made up of the ministers of foreign affairs of each member state or their permanent diplomatic representatives in Strasbourg. This is the Council of Europe’s main decision-making body.
• The Secretary General leads the organisation and has the overall responsibility for its strategic management. Alain Berset is the 15th Secretary General and was elected in June 2024. 
• The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe consists of 306 members of parliament from the 46 member states; the Assembly elects the Secretary General, the Human Rights Commissioner and the judges to the European Court of Human Rights; it provides a democratic forum for debate and monitors elections; its committees play an important role in examining current issues.
• Created in its current form in 1994, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is responsible for strengthening local and regional democracy. It brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130, 000 local and regional authorities.
• The Commissioner for Human Rights, whose office was established in 1999 with an independent mandate, plays a crucial role in advancing human rights protection by raising awareness about important trends and issues in our societies and through regular country visits and interaction with both national authorities and civil society.

Core activities

• Alongside the ECHR, the Council of Europe has developed more than 200 legally binding international treaties  to help protect people from various threats including torture, violence and sexual abuse.
• 42 member states have ratified the original or revised European Social Charter, which protects key economic and social rights, and 16 countries have accepted the collective complaints procedure before the European Committee of Social Rights.
• 45 European countries, and the European Union, have signed the ground-breaking Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence; 39 countries have so far ratified the convention, enabling its entry into force.
• All 46 Council of Europe countries have ratified the Convention on the Protection of Children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. In 2019, Tunisia became the first non-European country to accede to the Convention. There are currently 48 State Parties
• Every member state, plus Belarus and Israel, has also signed and ratified the Council of Europe convention on action against human trafficking.
• Furthermore, 81 countries – including the USA, Australia and Japan – are covered by the Council of Europe convention on cybercrime and 55 countries around the world are now covered by its data protection convention.
• Europe’s rich cultural and natural heritage is protected through the European Cultural ­­Convention, which covers some 50 countries across the continent.­
• The Council of Europe has developed a unique Youth Policy bringing together youth representatives and public authorities to increase the voice of young people in the democratic process.  
• The Council of Europe has also developed a key competence in the area of sport, with three unique conventions on match-fixing, doping, safety and security at sporting events.
• The Council of Europe is currently developing a legal framework to protect human rights in the use of artificial intelligence. The organisation is also working on new approaches to protect human rights in relation to the environment.
• A key objective of the Council of Europe is to help states to meet common European standards through expert monitoring and advisory bodies including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). In addition, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) monitors trends in the areas of racism, discrimination and hate speech and issues recommendations to member states.
• The Council of Europe also regularly monitors the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities and regional and minority languages. It has set standards in the area of education for democratic citizenship and the fight against hate speech.
• Since its creation in 2015, the Platform for the protection of journalism and the safety of journalists has published more than 2,400 alerts concerning 41 member states, raising awareness of risks to freedom of expression. 
• Thanks to its unique HELP Programme, the Council of Europe is a key provider of online training on human rights for legal professionals, academics and the wider public across Europe and beyond.
• Faced with a shrinking space for civil society in many parts of Europe, the Council of Europe also supports Belarusian democratic forces and civil society through a newly established Belarus Contact Group. 
• The European Union and the Council of Europe have developed a strong political and strategic partnership including joint cooperation programmes in a large number of countries, inside and outside the European Union, worth more than €230 million.

The Council of Europe at a glance »