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> Who We Are & What We Do > Regional and National Networks > Regional and International Organizations > Council of Europe

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Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe is the largest regional intergovernmental organization set up with the aim to defend human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law and acting as a political anchor and human rights watchdog for Europe at large.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law (so-called Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe has played a leading role in supporting its member states to overcome the constitutional obstacles raised by the ratification of the Rome Statute, thus promoting a rapid accession of many of its States Parties to the ICC.

Three consultations on the implications of Rome Statute ratification for Council of Europe Member States have taken place since 2000, with a view to facilitate an exchange of views and information among the member states of the Council of Europe on issues such as implementation and cooperation with the ICC, including efforts undertaken in this perspective at the national level and in the framework of international organizations participating as observers.

Also, the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI, gathering legal advisers of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the forty-nine member states of the Council of Europe) meet twice a year to exchange and possibly coordinate their views regarding major issues of public international law, including the ICC. Since the Court's establishment, ICC high-level officials (ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and ICC President Philippe Kirsch) have been invited to address the CADHI audience.

The CICC Europe Office also works with the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, which adopted several strong resolutions on the ICC, and which encouraged the Committee of Ministers to react by adopting a number of declarations on the ICC.