Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights

Latest news

14/04/2025 - Legal Affairs and Human Rights OSCE officials incarcerated by Russia: joint statement by OSCE PA Special Representative on Political Prisoners and PACE General Rapporteur on Political Prisoners in Europe
04/03/2025 - Legal Affairs and Human Rights Calling for the implementation of the Court’s judgments, PACE committee lists nine member states with over 40 pending leading cases
03/03/2025 - Legal Affairs and Human Rights PACE General Rapporteur appalled by planned firing squad execution in the US
03/03/2025 - Legal Affairs and Human Rights Full video of PACE hearing on ‘Proceeds of the crime denounced by Sergei Magnitsky found in Switzerland’
03/03/2025 - Legal Affairs and Human Rights Full video of the hearing on 'Follow-up to Pegasus and similar spyware and secret State surveillance'

ACTIVITIES

Presentation
A summary of the activities of the committee

Agenda
All items due for discussion and decision

Reports under preparation
List of reports under preparation in the committee

Documents and declarations
The committee's public documents and declarations

Decisions
Details of decisions taken by the committee at each meeting (synopses)

Election of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights by the Parliamentary Assembly 2024

Information note
Memorandum on the election procedure prepared by the Secretariat of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights

DID YOU KNOW?

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Right promotes the rule of law and defends human rights. It is also responsible for a whole variety of activities that make it, de facto, the Assembly's legal adviser.

In January 2024, Lord Richard Keen (United Kingdom, EC/DA) was elected as Chairperson of the Committee.

Handbook on "National parliaments as guarantors of human rights in Europe"

A handbook for parliamentarians from all over Europe published in October 2018 by the Assembly sets out ways and means to protect and implement human rights, within a democracy underpinned by the rule of law.

This handbook is intended to equip parliamentarians to fulfil their responsibilities by reviewing institutional structures, working methods and examples of best practices drawn from a number of parliaments in Europe, which enable them to verify most effectively the compatibility of national legislation and practices with European human rights standards.

Handbook available in several languages.