The Council of Europe

Overview

The Council of Europe, headquartered in Strasbourg, France, is Europe’s oldest political organization. Established in 1949 by the Treaty of London, it groups together 45 countries, has applications from 2 more countries, and has granted observer status to 5 international entities (the Holy See, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Mexico).

The Members

Principal Objectives

The Council of Europe was created in order to defend human rights, parliamentary democracy, and the rule of law. It seeks to develop continent-wide agreements (it has developed 192 legally binding European treaties or conventions) to standardize member countries’ social and legal practices, and also seeks to promote awareness of a European identity based on shared values. Since 1989, the Council’s main job has become to act as a political anchor and human rights watchdog for Europe’s post-communist democracies, and to assist the countries of central and Eastern Europe in carrying out and consolidating political, legal and constitutional reform in parallel with economic reform.

The Council of Europe covers all major issues facing European society other than defense. Its work program includes the following fields of activity: human rights, media, legal co-operation, social cohesion, health, education, culture, heritage, sport, youth, local democracy and trans-frontier co-operation, the environment and regional planning.

Organizational Structure

The Council of Europe is comprised of four main bodies:

• The Committee of Ministers (the organization's decision-making body), composed of the 45 foreign ministers or their Strasbourg-based deputies (ambassadors/permanent representatives),
• The Parliamentary Assembly (the organization’s deliberative body), grouping 626 members (313 representatives and 313 substitutes) from the 45 national parliaments and special guest delegations from the two candidate states,
• The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (a consultative body representing local and regional authorities), composed of a Chamber of Local Authorities and a Chamber of Regions,
• The 1300-strong Secretariat headed since 1999 by Secretary General Walter Schwimmer (Austria), former Vice-President of the parliamentary Assembly and former President of the Group of the European's people party.

The Council of Europe and the Death Penalty

Protocol No. 6 to the Council's European Convention on Human Rights (which was adopted in 1983 and entered into force in 1985) abolished the death penalty in peace time. This was a radical development, since previously the Council had accepted capital punishment insofar as it was provided for by law or made necessary by the use of force. Owing to Protocol No. 6, no executions have taken place in western Europe since 1984.

As a result of its enlargement towards central and eastern Europe, the Council of Europe was again confronted with the reality of capital punishment from 1989 onwards. The Council responded to this development by passing Resolution 1044 (1994), which makes it obligatory for all new member states to sign and ratify Protocol No 6 and to introduce a moratorium on executions. Abolition of the death penalty has thus become a pre-condition for membership with the Council of Europe.

To date, four member states have not yet formally abolished the death penalty but are observing a de facto or de jure moratorium: Russia, Armenia, Turkey and Serbia and Montenegro. Russia signed Protocol N° 6 in 1997, and has observed a moratorium since 1996; Armenia signed the Protocol when it joined the Council in January 2001 and has observed a moratorium since 1991; Turkey, after a moratorium observed since 1984, abolished the death penalty in August 2002 and signed Protocol N° 6 on 14 January 2003. Serbia and Montenegro signed the Protocol when they joined the Council in 2003.

In March 2002 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which abolishes the death penalty in all circumstances, even in the case of acts committed in times of war or imminent threat of war. Protocol No. 13, to which no derogation or reservation is allowed, entered into force on July 1, 2003.

A recent development is that the Parliamentary Assembly now wishes to extend prohibition of the death penalty to countries enjoying observer status with the Council. This extension would primarily affect Japan and the United States of America.

Clemency Letters

The Council of Europe has requested clemency in several cases. For example:

A letter asked Governor Musgrove to grant Ron Chris Foster clemency because he was a juvenile (17 years of age) at the time of the crime. Foster was granted a temporary reprieve by Governor Musgrove.

A letter requested Bob Riley, Governor of Alabama, to grant Glenn Holladay clemency owing to reports that Mr. Holladay is borderline mentally retarded. Alabama granted Holladay a stay of execution based on his mental retardation claim.

A letter asked both, Chairman Gerald Garrett, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry to grant James Colburn clemency as it was reported that Mr. Colburn suffered from a severe mental illness. Colburn was executed on March 26, 2003.

Links

Council of Europe Secretary General’s open letter on the emptying of death row in Illinois, published in the International Herald Tribune, January 16, 2003:

Interview with Renate Wohlwend, Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, “Death Penalty: Council of Europe Keeps up Pressure on Washington”, April 14, 2003:

Interview with Renate Wohlwend, Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, “Washington and Tokyo Must Also Recognize Council of Europe Standards”, June 2, 2002:

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