26/01/2026 Session
“To listen to the rhetoric and news in these last weeks and months, it seems that too many have forgotten the importance of international law and international justice, forgotten that these are the shared values of our community, and forgotten above all that humanity is at the heart of our system,” said Tekke Panman (Netherlands, EPP/CD), opening a current affairs debate today on safeguarding the system of international justice.
Also taking part in the debate was Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Stefanie Hubig, who focused on the need for the rule of law. Recalling the history of Winston Churchill’s idea of a united Europe to move from a Europe “ripped apart by violence to one held together by law” she pointed out that “nobody can turn back the wheel of time: law must prevail over violence”.
“The Council of Europe is more important than ever – it represents another kind of order, based on international co-operation and the protection of the individual against the power of the state,” she added. “It is the counter-model to a world in which violence has become an instrument of political power.”
No text is adopted during a current affairs debate. Some 30 members requested to speak.