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Intercultural integration academy in Iceland
An Intercultural Integration Academy will be held in Iceland on 25-28 March organised by the Council of Europe (Intercultural cities programme), the Ministry of Social Affairs and UNHCR. The Academy will focus on intercultural competence for social workers, municipal officials, police officers...
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Launch of the ICC Manual on community policing
The Intercultural Cities (ICC) programme launches a Manual on community policing to mark 21 March, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
5th anniversary of annexation of Crimea
Statement by Timo Soini, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Renewed efforts needed to eliminate racial discrimination, especially in the workplace, say Heads of Europe’s human rights organisations
Too many people with an ethnic or migrant background are still being held back in the job market. This is despite laws against racial discrimination and for equal opportunities in employment that have been in place for decades, the heads of three European human rights institutions said in a joint...
Enhancing media pluralism: Strasbourg conference
The Council of Europe and Reporters Without Borders are organising a conference in Strasbourg on 20 March to discuss public policies aimed at strengthening media pluralism. Held under the theme “Media Pluralism how can we deliver?”, the conference will explore how existing media legislation and...
25 “Venice Principles” - Democratic ABCs for ombudsman institutions
Today the Venice Commission published a set of guidelines to protect ombudsman institutions, following threats to these institutions in recent years. Ombudsman are important for democracy, their services are free, and are thus accessible to individuals who cannot afford to pursue their complaints...
GRECO publicly declares Belarus non-compliant with the CoE anti-corruption standards
Today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption, in an unprecedented move, has publicly declared Belarus non-compliant with GRECO’s anti-corruption standards. Since 2012, when GRECO addressed 24 recommendations to Belarus and invited the authorities to authorise the publication...
Romania: anti-torture committee concerned about abuse of prisoners by staff, inter-prisoner violence and allegations of police ill-treatment
The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has expressed concern about several persistent problems in Romanian prisons - including the abuse of prisoners by staff and inter-prisoner violence - as well as about numerous...
Albania needs to strengthen protection of national minority rights
In its fourth opinion on Albania, the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) urges Tirana to make operational the county’s law on the protection of national minorities through the adoption of further legislation....
States should enable NGOs to access foreign funding, say Venice Commission experts
In the wake of recent challenges to the independent functioning of associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Council of Europe's constitutional legal experts today adopted a report on standards with respect to foreign funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Council...
Hungary: Laws on administrative courts lack effective checks and balances in government, according to the Venice Commission
An opinion adopted today by the Council of Europe’s constitutional experts of the Venice Commission raises questions over two December 2018 laws establishing a separate system of administrative courts, with its own high court (the future Supreme Administrative Court, or SAC) and its own judicial...
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers
The latest case-by-case decisions on the implementation of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights have been published by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The committee adopted 30 decisions concerning 16 member states at the end of its quarterly human rights...
Human trafficking in Iceland: Some progress, but improvements are needed in key areas
Iceland has made some progress in tackling human trafficking in recent years, but the problem requires more political attention and better co-ordination in order to help detect victims of trafficking, carry out successful investigations and prosecute offenders. These are among the main findings...
Poland should restore necessary guarantees for independence of judges and prosecutors, prevent regression on women’s rights and combat gender stereotypes
“Modern European democracies cannot function without truly independent judiciaries. Poland’s authorities should take further steps to restore full independence of the judiciary and act to resolve discord and deadlock that continue to affect the functioning and the credibility of some of the...
Secretary General Jagland condemns the deadly mosques attack in New Zealand
On behalf of the 47-nation Council of Europe, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has made the following statement: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrific terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, that has left so many people dead and seriously wounded. Our deepest...
European Social Charter: decision in CGT v. France complaint concerning Labour Law
In a decision published today, the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights, which is responsible for monitoring the application of the European Social Charter, found that there has been no violation of Article 4§2 of the Charter with regard to the right of workers to be informed...
San Marino urged to raise public awareness of human trafficking and provide training to relevant professionals
San Marino has taken additional measures to combat trafficking in human beings, according to a new report published today by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), but a number of issues continue to give rise to concern. The report assesses...
Implementing European Court of Human Rights judgments
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is holding its quarterly meeting to oversee the execution of judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg from 12 to 14 March. Decisions taken by the Committee of Ministers will be published on the Council of Europe...
Anti-torture Committee urges effective investigations into allegations of torture in North Caucasus
The Council of Europe’s anti-torture Committee (the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture - CPT) has today issued a public statement on the Russian Federation urging the Russian authorities to take decisive action to eradicate the phenomenon of ill-treatment by law enforcement...
Ireland ratifies treaty to end violence against women
On UN International Women’s Day on 8 March, the Council of Europe welcomes the 34th ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (also known as the Istanbul Convention) to stop all forms of violence against women. “We...
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