The smuggling of migrants is a transnational crime in continuous evolution. The Council of Europe action in this field aims at supporting national jurisdictions, which are facing important challenges in fighting this phenomenon, including in terms of applicable legal frameworks, investigation, prosecution and international co-operation.
The new Council of Europe Recommendation on Accountability for Technology Facilitated Violence against Women and Girls is the first international legal standard focused on this topic.
The Recommendation provides guidance for Council of Europe member States on enhancing their legal, institutional and regulatory responses to technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, and proposes a comprehensive notion of accountability, extending beyond criminal law to civil and administrative fields.
For over fifty years now, a series of treaties have been negotiated within the Council of Europe which establish a common basis for co-operation in criminal matters across Europe and sometimes beyond.
Historically speaking the Council of Europe has played a pioneering role and has a unique experience in promoting humane treatment of offenders, decent prison conditions and socially effective and rehabilitative penal sanctions and measures.
The Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (GEC/PC-eVIO) is a joint subcommittee to the Gender Equality Commission (GEC) and to the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC). It is tasked by the Committee of Ministers to draft a Recommendation on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls by 2025.
Following the 78th CDPC Plenary session held in November 2020 and based on the results of the Feasibility Study, a Drafting Committee was tasked with the drafting of an instrument on AI and criminal law, with a focus on vehicles and automated driving.
The Council of Europe has long been concerned about the absence of harmonised international legislation, non-deterrent sanctions that were not proportionate to the harm caused to patients, and the involvement of criminal organisations which operate across borders.
Promoting the Rule of Law and European standards in the field of Criminal and Penitentiary Law
