International Organizations

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Council of Europe

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Council of Europe international organization founded in 1949 to promote greater unity within Europe and to safeguard its political and cultural heritage by promoting human rights and democracy. The council is headquartered in Strasbourg, France. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of dictatorial Communist rule in Eastern Europe, most Eastern European nations joined the council, bringing the membership total to 47. Only Belarus and Vatican City are not members. The conventions and treaties signed under the auspices of the Council of Europe deal with humanitarian, cultural, economic, and social problems.

In 1959 the council established a European Court of Human Rights to protect the rights of individuals in member nations against arbitrary government action. The court has heard cases involving corporal punishment; the protection of minorities, immigrants, suspects, prisoners, and the mentally ill; and the infringement of rights of speech, the press, religion, privacy, and sexuality. Member countries have been censured and risk expulsion if they fail to abide by the rulings. Britain (one of the founders) has, for instance, been upbraided for actions involving the IRA and the jailing of minors, and British representatives have bridled at the court's intervention in Britain's justice system. In the early 21st cent., the large number of cases brought by Russian citizens and the judgments handed down in favor of Russian claimants have led to tensions with Russia and Russian blockage of a package of court reforms.

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"Council of Europe." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Council of Europe

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | Copyright

Council of Europe. Established in 1949 as an intergovernmental forum covering the greater part of non‐communist Europe, the council was the most important international organization in which Ireland participated in the decade following the Second World War. Although Ireland joined the council at its inception, however, the opportunities of membership were never properly exploited in this most introverted phase of Irish politics and foreign policy. Sean MacBride's attempts to use the council to provide an audience for the ‘sore thumb’ of partition proved wholly counter‐productive, merely mystifying—and ultimately alienating—other national delegations rather than winning them to the cause. In the mid‐1950s the council was superseded in importance in Europe by the establishment of the European Economic Community (see european union), and in Irish foreign policy by admission to the United Nations.

Norrie MacQueen

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"Council of Europe." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Council of Europe

A Dictionary of World History | 2000 | Copyright

Council of Europe An association of European states, independent of the European Community. It meets in Strasbourg. Founded in 1949, it is committed to the principles of freedom and the rule of law, and to safeguarding the political and cultural heritage of Europe. Its executive organ is the Committee of Ministers, and most of its conclusions take the form of international agreements (known as European Conventions) or recommendations to governments. One of the Council's principal achievements is the European Convention of Human Rights (1950) under which was established the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights.

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Council of Europe

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Council of Europe European organization founded in 1949 with the aim of strengthening pluralist democracy and human rights, and promoting European cultural identity. Originally a Western European organization, it admitted former communist countries in the 1990s. It adopted c.150 conventions, the most important of which is the European Convention on Human Rights. It is based in Strasbourg, France.

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"Council of Europe." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-CouncilofEurope.html

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Council of Europe

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Council of Europe see Council of Europe .

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