Preserving human rights and justice in Europe

What is it about?

The Council of Europe (CoE) was founded after World War II. One of the first treaties signed under the CoE was the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Since then, the CoE has been an extremely important system of human rights protection in Europe. By allowing individual citizens to initiate legal proceedings against states, the CoE can hold its member states accountable for safeguarding human rights. In the years since the CoE was established, there has been a great change in the global political landscape and international law. Hence, to maintain the effectiveness of the CoE, its policies also need to evolve.

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Several events in recent history call into question the CoE’s ability to prevent acts of war. Russia’s military operations in Ukraine are one such example. But, the European Court of Human Rights has declared that it cannot pass rulings on human rights violations occurring during active military confrontation. As a result, the only action the CoE could take against Russia was to expel it. This decision has been reasonable and valid on several grounds. But, because of this decision, the CoE can now no longer expect Russia to be a party to the ECHR. So far, the CoE has assumed that member states will continue to act in good faith. However, recent events emphasize the need for the CoE to change its ways. They underscore the need for new CoE policies to enforce the ECHR. For example, like the United Nations, the CoE could impose sanctions on individuals and freeze their assets to apply pressure and nip violations in the bud. KEY TAKEAWAY: The CoE needs to evolve and upgrade its policies. It needs to begin developing new creative strategies to sanction states that violate its conventions. Thus, more resilient and efficient measures to ensure international human rights and justice are needed.