United Kingdom and the Council of Europe – bringing human rights from the conference table to your kitchen table

The Council of Europe works for you. We want to give visibility to the role, standards and work of the Council of Europe in its member states, to show how Council of Europe membership has helped achieve particular results or changes. Our aim, through a variety of events and actions, is to highlight ways in which the Council of Europe’s action has helped improve the life of individuals and contributed to improving people’s enjoyment of fundamental rights.

Whether it is the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights at national level, or the Council of Europe's work in many fields, such as working to abolish the death penalty or to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of the media, or to adress online and technology-facilitated violence against women through the Istanbul Convention and Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the Council of Europe has achieved a lot since 1949. View achievements »

Events

7-18 July 2025

• Liverpool Summer School to tackle effectiveness of Council of Europe in responding to pressing challenges. The third Liverpool Summer School, designed for those passionate about human rights and European law — master’s and PhD students, legal professionals, judges, policymakers, academics, and researchers, offers a rare opportunity to learn from distinguished decision-makers, judges, and legal scholars, including Judge Mykola Gnatovskyy of the ECtHR,  Ms Lilja Gretarsdottir from the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Implementation department, Professor Michele Nicoletti, former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Professor Aoife Nolan, President of the European Committee of Social Rights.

26 February 2025

• To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Treaty of London, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos, will attend Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons and will give a lecture at the House of Lords on “The Council of Europe, 75 years and beyond”.

8-19 July 2024

• The second Liverpool Summer School at the University of Liverpool examined Council of Europe law - Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Co-Operation Standards. The twelve day event, titled “Council of Europe at 75: Protecting Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law in a Rapidly Changing World” has been organised by the university’s School of Law and Social Justice in cooperation with the Council of Europe’s OCEAN programme and other partners.

3-14 July 2023

• Liverpool Summer School on the Law of the Council of Europe: The School of Law and Social Justice will host its first Summer School on the Law of the Council of Europe, entitled The Council of Europe: Resilience in Troubling Times. Applications are now open for Summer School places. 

Tbc

• Possible think tank event with Venice Commission expert input.