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ADVERTISEMENT“The debate is in good health, but the politicization of the Court is not. In a company governed by the rule of law, no legal body should be subject to political pressures,” the secretary general of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset said on Saturday.
The response of the Council of Europe is in response to the letter according to which the Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni signed with eight other European countries calling for an amendment to the European Convention on Human Rights.
“On May 22, 2025, during the initiative of Denmark and Italy, nine member states of the Council of Europe – notably Austria, Belgium, Cheche, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – published a joint letter calling for a” new and open conversation “on the way in which the European Court of Human Rights interprets the European Rights Convention”. message.
“Their concern concerns judgments on migration. These are complex challenges and democracies must always remain open to reflection through appropriate institutional channels. But clarity is essential,” explains Berset.
The secretary then declares that the European Court of Human Rights is not an external body. This is the legal branch of the Council of Europe – created by the Member States, established by Sovereign Choice and bound by an agreement that the 46 members signed and ratified freely.
“It exists to protect the rights and values that they have undertaken to defend. The defense of the independence and impartiality of the Court is our foundation,” adds Berset.
“The debate is in good health, but the politicization of the Court is not. In a society governed by the rule of law, no legal body should be subject to political pressures. Institutions which protect fundamental rights cannot be folded in political cycles.”
“If they do, we risk eroding the stability that they must guarantee themselves”, the secretary writes: “The court should not be used as a weapon, neither against governments, nor by them”.
Berset remembers when in 2025, the Convention will be 75 years old and that the Court gave life to its principles, guiding European states by threats to judicial independence, political disorders and even war.
“The European Court of Human Rights is the only international court which judges human rights violations in the context of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. This should never be compromised,” added Berset.
“By facing the complex challenges of today, our task is not to weaken the Convention, but to maintain it strong and relevant – to ensure that freedom and security, justice and responsibility, are preserved in balance. It is the inheritance that we receive. And it is the duty we share,” concludes the letter.
