The independence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) “must be protected” as European states move towards a consensus approach on migration, the secretary general of the Council of Europe has said.
Alain Berset said the right way to start is “not by putting pressure” on the ECHR.
His comments came after 27 European states last December agreed a statement aimed at negotiating a new approach to the European Convention on Human Rights in an attempt to make it easier to deport migrants without a right to remain.
The convention is interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights, and several human rights advocates, including Council of Europe human rights commissioner Michael O’Flaherty, have warned against “rebalancing” convention rights.
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Berset spoke to The Irish Times after his first official visit to Dublin on Friday, where he paid a courtesy call to President Catherine Connolly and met Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Thomas Byrne. He also met civil society groups.
The discussions included geopolitical developments, ensuring democratic security and tackling gender-based violence.
The Council of Europe is based in Strasbourg and was founded in 1949 to promote human rights, democracy, and the rule of law across 46 member states. It enforces the convention primarily through the European Court of Human Rights.
Berset said the council acts as a platform for dialogue and, in the political level discussions on migration, it is “making sure, as sure as possible” the independence of the judiciary will not be affected.
“We are going now in the direction of having a consensual approach, that is a great thing for European unity if we are able to see what kind of challenges migration is bringing and to have this discussion in the committee of ministers and then to have a political declaration.” The declaration on migration will be issued at a conference in Moldova in December.
The Council of Europe is “a values-based model” with the aim, via the convention and the court, “to make as sure as possible that human rights are respected for every individual living on the Continent”.
Any dilution of human rights protections would be “exactly the wrong thing to do” in a situation of huge geopolitical shifts, instability, war and technological changes, he said. This is “a time to protect human rights, not dilute them”.
This period, with strong investment in armies in Europe and also discussion about mistrust in institutions, is the time to ensure Europe has strong democratic institutions, he said.
“The security with the armies is security only if the institutions are strong enough to control them,” he said. The goal is a “stable peace”
Other Council of Europe priorities include its work to ensure accountability for the Russian war on Ukraine, including through the European Court of Human Rights and a planned special tribunal to prosecute political and military leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
He shares international concerns about Israel passing a law providing for the death penalty to be the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, describing it as a “very worrying” development.
The council is particularly concerned because it played a key role in achieving abolition of the death penalty on European soil, said Berset.
Prior to the law being passed, he expressed the council’s concerns in letters to the president of Israel and its parliament, the Knesset. Following the parliament’s vote in favour of the law, he wrote last week to the Israeli prime minister, telling him the Council of Europe “totally disapproved” of the move and it could have “consequences” for Israeli collaboration with the council, as Israel is part of some of its conventions.
