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The Council of Europe, Rights and Political Authority

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2013

Kundai Sithole
Kundai Sithole*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK. E-mail: kundai.sithole@politics.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper examines the importance of human rights protection – in particular the European Convention on Human Rights – to the Council of Europe's survival as a political authority. Its underlying premise is that the proliferation of regional organisations in Europe in post-war Europe, and the creation of the Communities in 1958, contributed to a loss of a sense of purpose as to the Council of Europe's role in post-war Europe. Initial attempts to widen the scope of its political authority in relation to the Member States and other regional organisations were unsuccessful. It was, therefore, necessary for the Council of Europe to consolidate its existing mandate in ensuring the region's democratic security through human rights protection. Thus, led by its Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe institutions have, since 1949, provided the Member States with the necessary regional fora for examining and promulgating regional human rights legislation, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and its two additional protocols abolishing the death penalty.

Type
Focus: Rights
Information
European Review , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 118 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2013

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References

References and Notes

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