Transcript Council of Europe: The “Other” European Organization

Council of Europe:
The “Other” European Organization
Duncan Alford
Princeton University Library
COE - Background

International organization created by treaty
 Began in 1949
 Original members – Belgium, Denmark,
France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK
 Currently 45 members
– All EU members and accession countries
Goals of the COE

Achieve greater unity among its members
 Safeguard the ideals and principles of their
common heritage
 Defend human rights, parliamentary
democracy and the rule of law
 Create a common legal space
 Tools used include treaties, conventions,
and agreements
Major Policy Areas

Human Rights
 Animals
 Bioethics
 Cultural Affairs
 Economic Affairs and Development
 Environment
 Social and Public Health
What the COE is Not

The Council of Europe is NOT the EU
 Separate, distinct organizations with
separate institutions
 EU has 15 members, soon to be 25
 COE has 45 members
Reasons for the Confusion

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Council of Europe
Parliamentary
Assembly
Strasbourg, France
European Court of
Human Rights
Same flag

European Union

European Parliament
(formerly Parliamentary
Assembly)

Strasbourg, France
 European Court of
Justice
COE Institutional Structure

Committee of Ministers
 Parliamentary Assembly
 European Court of Human Rights
 Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Committee of Ministers

Decision-making and policymaking body
 Composed of the foreign ministers of the
member countries
 Meets 2 times per year; deputies monthly
 Adopt treaties which are later ratified by the
member countries
Parliamentary Assembly

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313 members (plus 313 alternates)
Appointed or elected from the parliaments of the
member countries
2 – 18 members per country, roughly proportional
to population
Advises the Committee of Ministers
4 plenary sessions per year
Has a committee structure
President and Secretary General
Congress of Local and
Regional Authorities
Two chambers – local and regional
 313 members in each
 Brings local democracy to COE activities
 Advises the Committee of Ministers;
consultative body only

European Court of Human
Rights

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Established in 1959 pursuant to the European
Convention on Human Rights
Same number of judges as member countries;
more than one judge from single member
Elected by the Parliamentary Assembly
6 year terms
Decisions are binding on member countries, their
citizens, and their national courts
How Cases are Brought to the
Court

Previously Human Rights Commission was
required to approve cases to go to the court
 Beginning in 1999, individuals can file
applications
 Court became full-time in 1999
 As a result, the court’s case load has increased

Lustig-Prean and Beckett v. United Kingdom
(1999).
Major Publications

Activities of the Council of Europe
 Texts Adopted …
(formerly Official Gazette of the Council of Europe)

European Treaty Series / European Conventions
and Agreements
 Human Rights Information Bulletin
 Science and Technique of Democracy
– Monographic series

Press releases
European Court of Human
Rights Publications

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
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
HUDOCS (Web database)
Reports of Judgments and Decisions
Decisions and Reports of the European
Commission for Human Rights (ceased 1999)
European Human Rights Reports (E. H. R. R.) –
on LexisNexis Commercial/ Westlaw
Yearbook of the European Convention on Human
Rights
European Commission for
Democracy Through Law

Also known as the Venice Commission
 Goal: encourage development of democracy
in Central and Eastern Europe
 Bulletin of Constitutional Case-Law
– Summaries of constitutional court decisions

CODICES database (web and CD)
– Constitutional court decisions
Web Resources
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Official Web Site
http://www.coe.int/def
aultEN.asp
News on front page
Institutions
A-Z Index
Statistics

COE has limited statistical information
 Demography, population studies
 European Audiovisual Observatory
 Criminology
 Case law statistics
COE Blanket Order

Princeton University Library has a blanket order
for all COE publications through Manhattan
Publishing (Voyager Order No. 78949)
http://www.manhattanpublishing.com/
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Contact: Tom Johnson 914-271-5194
About $3500 per year
Exempt from Blanket Order
– Pharmacopia
– European Audiovisual Observatory
– COE internal documents
COE Research Guides

University of Georgia Law Library
– http://www.llrx.com/features/coe.htm
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Duke University Law Library
– http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/ResearchGuides/c
ouncilEurope/councilEurope.html
Why Should I Care?

Rich source for European information
 http://www.coe.int
 Princeton owns most COE publications
– In OPAC
– NOT depository items

Major policy areas
– Human Rights
– Cultural property, etc.
New Electronic Resources In
Law

LLMC Digital
 Index to House of Commons Parliamentary
Papers (1801 – 2002)
 Hein Online
– US Treaty Series plus others
– United States Reports – official reporter
– Federal Register – from volume 1

TIARA – treaties database