The Council of Europe Committee on Counter-Terrorism (CDCT) held its 12^th meeting in Strasbourg under the Chairmanship of Mr Nicola PIACENTE (Italy).

Following the approval of the text of the definition of terrorism at the 11^th CDCT Plenary in December 2023,  the meeting focused on the best way to integrate this new definition into the Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (CETS No. 196). After careful examination, the CDCT expressed a preference for an Amending Protocol as the most suitable legal instrument and approved a text for this purpose. At the next Plenary meeting (13-14 November 2024), the CDCT will also examine an Explanatory Memorandum to accompany the draft Amending Protocol. The two texts will be submitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at the beginning of 2025.

The CDCT also examined and approved the “Comparative Practices on the Use of Information Collected in Conflict Zones as Evidence in Criminal Proceedings”, which was prepared by the CDCT Secretariat in partnership with the International Institute for Justice and Rule of Law (IIJ). Building on the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)8 on the use of information collected in conflict zones as evidence in criminal proceedings related to terrorist offences, this document gathers a variety of States methods and practices in the field of battlefield evidence into a singular resource for practitioners, policymakers, and others. The document will be sent to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in September.

The CDCT also approved the initiation of several activities including Recommendations, Guidelines and Working Groups which will take place in the second part of 2024 and through 2025.