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Minister, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to welcome you here to discuss an issue which is important, sensitive and topical.

The Council of Europe is the guardian of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe, underpinned by the European Convention on Human Rights, our range of instruments, and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

In Europe today, examples of doping in sport are many and well-known.

Here, in this Organisation, this presents us with twin challenges.

We must play our part in eliminating the use of drugs in order to protect the integrity of sports.

But we must also ensure that sportspeople themselves enjoy the protection of the human rights to which every individual in Europe is entitled.

Respecting human rights, enforcing the rule of law – this is our mandate – and we have the tools to fulfil it.

With regard to doping in sport, the Council of Europe was the first organisation to grasp the issue at an international level.

In 1967 our Committee of Ministers adopted a Resolution on the doping of athletes, the first international legal instrument on this matter.

And the Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention that followed was the first legally-binding international text on this subject.

It is on this basis that we work with our member states – and others – equipping them to prevent, identify and deal with the misuse of drugs in sport.

But it is right to ask also whether the current international normative framework does enough to protect athletes’ human rights, not least in an environment where suspicions about competitors’ drug use are common.

From a Council of Europe stand point, we are clear.

Athletes’ rights must be protected and their voices must be heard.

This approach is at the heart of the Council of Europe’s approach.

First and foremost, the issue of athletes’ human rights will be addressed at our next Conference of Ministers responsible for sport which will take place in Georgia this October.

In that framework, the protection of the youngest athletes from violence, and achieving gender equality in sport, will be prominent on our agenda.

In addition, we are creating an on-line course on Sport and Human Rights that will help legal and sports professionals to better understand the law and processes around their rights.

Developed under the Council of Europe's pan-European HELP Programme, the course will soon be open to all 47 member states and will address anti-doping among a range of issues pertaining to athletes’ access to justice.

Last but not least, these measure are taking place against the backdrop of our Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport’s recent publication of a good practice handbook for judicial authorities:

A text that addresses disciplinary and arbitration procedures in the sport movement.

These activities highlight the unique synergies between the Council of Europe's standard-setting, monitoring and co-operation activities in this field.

Here today, we look forward not just to reflections on these actions, but on what more ought to be done.

Are athletes’ rights to justice and a fair trial, for example, being properly enforced when they stand accused of doping?

Are there blind spots to which our attention should turn?

Could these issues be addressed through the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code or indeed additional measures that go beyond the Code itself?

Today is an opportunity for the Council of Europe, athletes and their representatives to discuss what further progress might be made – progress towards a sporting world in which doping has no place, confidence is restored, and the rights of our sportspeople are respected and upheld.

I am pleased to welcome you here and wish you all a fruitful discussion.