Confusion about the differences between the Council of Europe (the parent body of the European Court of Human Rights) and the European Union is commonplace amongst the general public. It even affects some lawyers, jurists, social scientists and students. This book will enable the reader to distinguish clearly between those human rights norms which originate in the Council of Europe and those which derive from the EU, vital for anyone interested in human rights in Europe and in the UK as it prepares to leave the EU. The main achievements of relevant institutions include securing minimum standards across the continent as they deal with increasing expansion, complexity, multidimensionality, and interpenetration of their human rights activities. The authors also identify the central challenges, particularly for the UK in the post-Brexit era, where the components of each system need to be carefully distinguished and disentangled.

This book explores the human rights monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe: the Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the European Committee of Social Rights, the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance. The book will look at each mechanism in turn and consider a number of issues including: at the role and procedures; its effectiveness in terms of monitoring ands ensuring its findings are implemented; its level of cooperation with other international actors including other organs of the Council of Europe, UN and EU bodies, NGOs and national human rights institutions and ombudsmen; its relationship with the European Court of Human Rights; and whether human rights indicators would be useful in improving its monitoring. Each chapter will be written by an expert in the field. The introduction to the volume will outline the common features and purposes of these mechanisms as well as key questions to be addressed in the following chapters, while the conclusion will provide an evaluation of their effectiveness and consider future perspectives.

Despite much progress accomplished in Europe over the past seven decades, some topics remain issues of concern in many countries, especially in the current context in which human rights principles are increasingly challenged, undermined or discounted. This compilation puts together the series of articles published by Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights over the past twenty-one months (elected in January 2018). They cover a variety of human rights topics that she has worked on, such as the right to peaceful assembly, the rights of minority groups, anti-discrimination, the fight against trafficking, environmental rights, anti-terror legislation and the protection of human rights, the independence of the judiciary, national human rights institutions and human rights in the artificial intelligence era.

This volume of the "Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights, prepared by the Directorate of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, relates to 2003. Part one contains information on the Convention. Part two deals with the control mechanism of the European Convention on Human Rights: selected judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and human rights (DH) resolutions of the Committee of Ministers; part three groups together the other work of the Council of Europe in the field of human rights, and includes the work of the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Directorate General of Human Rights; part four is devoted to information on national legislation and extracts from national judicial decisions concerning rights protected by the Convention. Appendix A contains a bibliography on the Convention, and Appendix B the biographies of the new judges elected to the European Court of Human Rights.

Over 800 million Europeans can individually obtain a ruling from a European court against their State if it has violated their human rights. There is an assembly in Strasbourg where members of the Icelandic, Russian, Portuguese, German, Georgian and other European parliaments all sit together. A Congress exists whose sessions are attended by representatives of 200 000 local and regional authorities of Europe. All these statements relate to the Council of Europe, the first of the European institutions to be founded. Now 47 member states strong, the Council - which is to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year - has become one of the main institutions of intergovernmental co-operation. This book looks at the political role of the Council of Europe, which is now not only a forum for democracy and a gage of stability, the home of human rights and the forum of cultural diversity, but also the crucible of Europe and the future for politics. The author examines all that is specific to the Council of Europe within the European architecture, particularly vis-á-vis the European Union. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to study the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, understand how it operates and find out about the contribution that it makes.

Just what are your human rights, and how does the Council of Europe protect them? This small book tells the story simply and clearly, making a complicated issue straightforward. It offers examples illustrating each right in the European Convention on Human Rights, and short explanations placing the European Court of Human Rights in the wider context of other Council of Europe activities that also promote the same ideals. As informed citizens of Europe, we all need to be aware of human rights and of the importance of maintaining and promoting them. Europe has a good story to tell about human rights and this book tells it.

European Convention on Human Rights – Article 10 – Freedom of expression 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. In the context of an effective democracy and respect for human rights mentioned in the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights, freedom of expression is not only important in its own right, but it also plays a central part in the protection of other rights under the Convention. Without a broad guarantee of the right to freedom of expression protected by independent and impartial courts, there is no free country, there is no democracy. This general proposition is undeniable. This handbook is a practical tool for legal professionals from Council of Europe member states who wish to strengthen their skills in applying the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work.