The business
The basis of the Council of Europe’s activities is the work for democracy, respect for human rights and a functioning judicial system. It should contribute to creating a tolerant and civilized society. In practical terms, the work takes place mainly by the Council of Europe drawing up agreements that concern everything from bans on torture to practical issues such as how university grades are to be valued. There are monitoring bodies in certain areas, and through a series of so-called party agreements, member states co-operate on specific issues.
The basis of the Council of Europe’s activities is the work for democracy, respect for human rights and a functioning judicial system. It should contribute to creating a tolerant and civilized society. In practical terms, the work takes place mainly by the Council of Europe drawing up agreements that concern everything from bans on torture to practical issues such as how university grades are to be valued. There are monitoring bodies in certain areas, and through a series of so-called party agreements, member states co-operate on specific issues.
According to mathgeneral, the Council of Europe’s work spans a wide range: human and civil rights, social issues, labor law, asylum and refugee issues, the fight against racism, gender equality, the situation of homosexuals, bioethics, the media, integration, health, culture, education, sport and youth.
Conventions
Over the years, the Council of Europe has drawn up over 200 agreements that both regulate the Council’s work and establish important rights principles. They are often called conventions, even if some of them are officially called something else (such as agreements, statutes, etc.). Some are called additional protocols because they are based on previous agreements. But in all cases, these are international agreements that are binding on the state that has fully acceded.
Some of the conventions have been ratified by all member states, ie the countries have approved them in accordance with current national rules and thus committed themselves to complying with them. Other conventions have only been signed by some Member States and have not been ratified by anyone.
Most important of the Council’s agreements is the European Convention, which has been ratified by all Member States. The second most important is considered to be the social charter.
A convention is created through preparatory work in one of the many sub-bodies of the Council of Europe. It is then adopted by the Committee of Ministers and then opened for signature – for the member states and in most cases also for other states. A signature is a first step towards ratification, but it is not uncommon for the process in a country to drag on or stop completely after signing. When a convention is written, the Council of Europe decides how many ratifications are required before an agreement enters into force. An additional protocol on extradition, for example, was opened for signature in November 2010 and entered into force on 1 May 2012, after ratification by three countries. Another 13 countries had then signed but not yet ratified it.
Party agreement and monitoring
Within the Council of Europe, a number of party agreements have been concluded, which will facilitate cooperation in individual areas for the countries that choose to participate. Some examples are the Venice Commission, an expert group on constitutional issues, Eurimages, which promotes filmmaking in Europe, and the European Pharmacopoeia.
There are also a number of monitoring bodies to ensure that Member States comply with their commitments on individual issues. Among them are the Torture Committee CPT and ECRI, a body that monitors discrimination and racism, and Moneyval, which fights money laundering.
European Convention
The protection of human rights is one of the main goals of the Council of Europe. The Council wants to achieve this through effective monitoring of freedoms and rights, identification of threats to human rights, dissemination of knowledge about the importance of protecting these rights and by supporting education and training in the field. A key tool is the European Convention, which was adopted in 1950 and entered into force in 1953.
The European Convention – or the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – establishes human and civil rights (for example, the right to life, the prohibition of torture, and freedom of religion, expression and assembly). The Convention is based on the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights and protects not only citizens but all people in a Member State.
The Convention includes several additional protocols, including one against the death penalty in peacetime and one that gives citizens the right to appeal to the European Court of Justice. In practice, it has been mandatory since 1989 to accede to the two Additional Protocols in order to become a member of the Council of Europe. All Member States have done so in full except Russia, which has signed but not ratified the ban on the death penalty in peacetime.
The Additional Protocol banning the death penalty in peacetime dates from 1983; since 2002, there is a new one that applies to the prohibition of the death penalty in all circumstances. After ten years, the latter had been ratified by all member states except Armenia, Azerbaijan, Poland and Russia.
Most Member States have transposed the European Convention into national law. In Sweden, this happened in 1995.
Restrictions on the Convention are permitted when public order, national security or the rights and freedoms of other individuals are threatened. This may, for example, apply in war or comparable situations. However, some rights are inviolable. This includes the right to life, as well as the prohibitions against torture, slavery and retroactive criminal law.