Part II Institutions, s.2 Further Institutions of the Council of Europe as a Whole, 11 Commissioner for Human Rights

Subject(s):

Democracy — Human rights remedies — Responsibility of international organizations — Rule of law

This chapter covers the background and activities of the Commissioner for Human Rights. The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (the Commissioner) is an independent, non-judicial institution set up in 1999 by a resolution of the Council of Ministers (CoM) with the explicit mandate to promote education in, awareness of, and respect for human rights, as embodied in the human rights instruments of the Council of Europe (CoE) (Article 1 paragraph 1 Resolution (99) 50). Since it has been established by one of the CoE main organs pursuant to its organisational powers (Article 16 CoE Statute) in order to pursue one of the purposes of the organisation (Article 1 (b) CoE Statute) by independent means, the Commissioner may be considered a (subsidiary) organ of the CoE. Its three main functions are, as stated above, education and information, monitoring, institutional cooperation. These functions are not mutually exclusive, but overlap each other.