The CAHDI is an intergovernmental committee of the Council of Europe bringing together the Legal Advisers of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member States, as well as a significant number of observer States and international intergovernmental organisations. The CAHDI facilitates exchanges and co-ordinates views of member States in the field of public international law.

In 2018, the CAHDI held two meetings: the 55th meeting in March (Strasbourg, 22-23 March 2018) and the 56th meeting in September (Helsinki, Finland, 20-21 September 2018). Around 90 experts from 46 member States, eight non-member States and five international intergovernmental organisations, participated in the two CAHDI meetings in 2018.

Topical questions of international law

Pursuant to its Terms of Reference, the CAHDI is instructed to “examine topical questions of public international law”. In 2018, different aspects of immunities of States and international organisations continued to form the core of the topical discussions within the Committee:

• The CAHDI continued to address the issue of “Immunities of special missions”, through the preparation of an analytical report on this topic by Sir Michael Wood, member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) and former Chair of the CAHDI, and Mr Andrew Sanger (Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge). The report analyses the legislation and practice of 38 member and non-member States of the Council of Europe participating in the CAHDI, including the main trends arising from their replies to the questionnaire prepared by the CAHDI on this matter. A contract between the Council of Europe and Brill-Nijhoff Publishers was concluded for the publication of this new CAHDI book, in 2019.

• CAHDI experts exchanged information on State practice and relevant case law as regards “The immunities of States and International Organisations”. In March 2018, the CAHDI adopted an opinion on Recommendation 2122 (2018) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “Jurisdictional Immunity of International Organisations and Rights of their Staff”. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe took into account CAHDI’s views when preparing their reply to the PACE Recommendation, adopted in September 2018.

• Furthermore, the CAHDI discussed and adopted three legal opinions at its 56th meeting, concerning the following PACE Recommendations:

- Recommendation 2125 (2018) “State f emergency: proportionality issues concerning derogations under Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights”;

- Recommendation 2126 (2018) “Humanitarian needs and rights f internally displaced persons in Europe”;

- Recommendation 2130 (2018) “Legal challenges related t hybrid war and human rights obligations”.

European Observatory of Reservations to International Treaties

Pursuant to its Terms of Reference, the CAHDI is instructed to “continue its active role as the European Observatory of Reservations to International Treaties”. For this purpose, it regularly considers reservations and declarations to international treaties subject to objection which are identified beforehand by the Public International Law Division.

In 2018, the Public International Law Division identified 26 reservations/declarations which were examined by the CAHDI at its two meetings.

In carrying out this examination, the CAHDI makes use of the “dialogue réservataire”, a concept that it created and for which the CAHDI has been praised for fostering dialogue and conciliation in good faith. This activity contributes to an important dialogue at the international level and has an impact on the subsequent actions of States with regard to their respective reservations and/or declarations. The dialogue that takes place in the CAHDI not only allows States that have formulated a problematic reservation to have an opportunity to clarify its scope and effect and, if necessary clarify or withdraw it, but it also facilitates the understanding by other delegations of the rationale behind reservations before deciding to formally object to them.

Cooperation within the Council of Europe

As it is the custom, the Chair of the CAHDI held an exchange of views with the Ministers’ Deputies of the Council of Europe on 13 June 2018. On this occasion, the Chair stressed in particular the contribution of the CAHDI to the activities of the Council of Europe as well as the contribution of the CAHDI beyond the Council of Europe and as a liaison body with other international intergovernmental organisations. The Ministers’ Deputies expressed high appreciation for the CAHDI as a laboratory of ideas in the field of international law, with a reach well beyond the framework of the Council of Europe.

Co-operation with the United Nations and international tribunals

Over the year, the CAHDI continued and strengthened its co-operation and collaboration with the United Nations and in particular with the International Law Commission (ILC) and the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. In this regard, the CAHDI held exchanges of views with Mr Pavel ŠTURMA, First Vice-Chair of the ILC and with Mr Stephen MATHIAS, Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs of the United Nations, at its 56th meeting. Moreover, the Secretariat of the CAHDI participated in the debates of the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly and held an exchange of views with the ILC, together with the Chair of the CAHDI.

Furthermore, to pursue the CAHDI’s long lasting and fruitful cooperation developed in the last decades with international tribunals, an exchange of views with Mr Allan ROSAS, Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union, took place at the 55th CAHDI meeting.

Databases managed by the CAHDI

Pursuant to its terms of reference the CAHDI continued to update and improve its databases which gather the national contributions of member and observer States and organisations on the following topics: “The immunities of States and international organisations”, “The organisation and functions of the Office of the Legal Adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs” and “The implementation of UN sanctions and respect for Human Rights”.

Cases before the European Court of Human Rights involving issues of public international law

At the 55th meeting, the Secretariat presented to the CAHDI the revised and updated document on the “Case law of the European Court of Human Rights related to Public International Law” containing those judgments and decisions related to public international law up to 31 December 2017 for which official press releases and legal summaries were available. The CAHDI agreed at its 56th meeting that from 2019 onwards annual appendices to the compilation will be prepared with the new cases and published on the CAHDI website.