Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE) is a pan-European political organization established in the aftermath of the Second World War (1949) with the aims of promoting European unity, protecting human rights, and encouraging socio-economic progress. The CoE is distinct from the European Union (EU), but every member state of the EU first belonged to the CoE.
On this page you will find information on the CoE's work in mental disability as well as general information about the organization and the history of the CoE.
The CoE consists of 46 member states. There are also currently 2 applicant states, and 5 countries that have been granted observer status. The CoE is based in Strasbourg, France.
The CoE's principal institutions are:
The Committee of Ministers is the CoE's decision-making body; it consists of 46 foreign ministers or their deputies. The Committee of Ministers adopts various recommendations, resolutions and opinions addressed to the CoE member states, such as the 1992 Recommendation on a Coherent Policy for People with Disabilities.
The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) is the CoE's deliberative body; it consists of 630 members (315 representatives and 315 substitutes) from national parliaments. Covering the whole of geographical Europe, the PACE promotes European cooperation on a broad scale, as evidenced by its 2003 Recommendation Towards Full Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities.
The bi-chamber Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA) is a consultative body representing local and regional authorities in Europe. It consists of 315 full and 315 substitute members and promotes democracy at the local level. In 1990, the CLRA adopted the Resolution on the rehabilitation and integration of the disabled: role of local authorities.
The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution that promotes awareness of, and respect for, human rights in the CoE member states. Among the Commissioner's tasks are: visiting countries to examine the human rights situation and identify areas for improvement; writing thematic reports, recommendations, and opinions to provide concrete advice on rights protection; and organizing awareness-raising seminars. Most recently, the Commissioner issued a statement: "People with disabilities have the right to be full-fledged members of society," advocating support for the UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
The Secretariat is responsible for advising and assisting the CoE institutions in all matters of the office. It consists of Directorates General concerned with various topics. The Directorate General of Social Cohesion (DG III) is concerned with social inclusion and quality of life in Europe, promoting European standards in the social and health fields, support for ethnic and cultural diversity, and social development cooperation. The DG III also gives practical support to policy-makers, professionals, and field workers through its legal standard-setting instruments, ministerial conferences, intergovernmental committees and expert groups.
The European Court of Human Rights (also known as the "Strasbourg Court") is the judicial body of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). Although its jurisprudence on the rights of people with mental disabilities is relatively limited, it has issued several landmark rulings, such as Case X and Y v. The Netherlands concerning the sexual abuse of a mentally-disabled minor. To read more about the Strasbourg Court's jurisprudence on people with disabilities, please click here.
For further information on the CoE bodies, please follow the links below:
The idea of European integration was discussed by philosophers as early as the nineteenth century, but only in the twentieth century did it gain ground, owing to gross human rights violations that took place on a massive scale during the Second World War.
Consequently, in London on May 5th, 1949 the governments of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom signed the Statute of the Council of Europe. The Statute outlines the aims, composition and procedures of the Council of Europe and its institutions. Since the joining of 21 countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in November 1990, the Council of Europe has become a truly pan-European organization.
Among the CoE's practical achievements are approximately 200 legally-binding treaties or conventions (some open to non-member states) on topics ranging from human rights to cultural cooperation. The CoE has also issued numerous policy recommendations to governments on various issues including legal matters, health and education.
For further details of the CoE's history, please follow the links below:
The Council of Europe and Human Rights
Over the course of its history the CoE has been an active champion of human rights including the rights of persons with physical, sensory and mental disabilities. CoE texts and recommendations cover the technical, standard-setting and policy aspects of topics ranging from the prevention of disability to integration and anti-discrimination. In addition, the CoE has established a system for monitoring national disability policies.
The CoE created Europe's most important human rights document, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950), which offers protection inter alia of privacy (Article 8); against inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3); against arbitrary deprivation of liberty (Article 5); and against discrimination in conjunction with other substantive rights (Article 14).
In 2005, the CoE adopted Protocol 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which established a free-standing right not to be discriminated against. Although the text of the Protocol does not specifically mention disability, discrimination on that ground is captured by a catch-all "other status" clause (Article 1).
Another important CoE mechanism is the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which entered into force in 1989. This Convention established a European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). As the name suggests, the CPT is concerned with protection against all forms of mistreatment of persons who are deprived of their liberty. It was the CPT that condemned the detention of people in "cage beds" by several CoE member states.
The European Social Charter (1961) is also a legally binding instrument. It guarantees 19 social and economic rights including the right to work, the right of vulnerable populations to protection, and the right to social and economic assistance. Article 15 specifically defines the right of people with disabilities to vocational training, rehabilitation and social resettlement. Article 15 was revised in 1996 to include the right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration, and participation in the life of the community (see Revised European Social Charter).
For more information about the CoE's human rights work, please follow the links below:
- CoE Social Cohesion Newsletter (a bi-annual publication)
Since 1959, under the Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health Field, the CoE has done much in the area of disability. Through its Committee on Rehabilitation and Integration of People with Disabilities (CD-P-RR), the CoE has partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the European Union and has worked with numerous non-governmental organizations.
In 1992, the CoE issued Recommendation No. R(92)6: A coherent policy for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities. Since that time many organizations, including the CoE itself, have based their activities directly on this Recommendation.
Since the 1970s, the CoE has been working to improve the access of people with disabilities to public buildings, dwellings and recreational facilities. In 2001, it adopted the "Tomar Resolution" inviting the member states to incorporate the principles of universal design into all buildings. The resolution's principles extend to public transport and technological tools in order to prevent "technological discrimination."
The CoE has made many proposals regarding employment of people with disabilities. Among these are proposals for assessing incentives for hiring people with disabilities and for optimizing the use of sheltered employment so that people with disabilities can be integrated into the mainstream labor market.
Please see these other important CoE texts on disability:
- The 2003 Malaga Political Declaration by ministers responsible for integration policies for people with disabilities
In April 2006, the CoE Committee of Ministers adopted the Recommendation Rec(2006)5 "Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation in society of people with disabilities: improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in Europe 2006-2015." The Action Plan has a broad scope and promotes a shift from a medical to a social and human rights-based approach to disability. It is intended to serve as a policy framework for the coming decade and a roadmap for policy-makers. The Action Plan was officially launched in September 2006 at a European Conference in St. Petersburg.
For further information on the CoE's activities in the area of disability, please follow the links below:
Mental Health and Intellectual Disability
Article 15 of the legally-binding (Revised) European Social Charter (1996) declares the right of physically or mentally disabled persons to vocational training, rehabilitation and social resettlement.
There are also three relevant, non-binding recommendations:
- The 1977 PACE Recommendation on the Situation of the Mentally Ill
- Recommendation R(83)2 of the Committee of Ministers
Recommendation Concerning the Legal Protection of Persons Suffering from Mental Disorder Placed as Involuntary Patients
Additionally, the CPT monitors the rights of patients with mental disabilities in detention institutions. Recently, the CPT condemned several Central and Eastern European countries for the continued use of "cage beds", considering the practice degrading and calling on the countries in question to ensure that the beds are withdrawn from use as soon as possible.
Finally, the CoE along with the European Union joined in the recent WHO Mental Health Declaration for Europe. The document was adopted by health ministers and other government representatives from 52 countries (most which are also member states of the CoE) at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health in January 2005, in Helsinki, Finland.