The Italian Presidency of the Council of Europe: priorities and opportunities to strengthen the European machinery for the promotion and protection of human rights, University of Padova, 28 September 2022

The Council of Europe has gone through and is still going through a phase of intense difficulty, caught between the need to respond to the challenges and sometimes provocations being brought to democracy, the rule of law and human rights - indeed, its flagship values - by some of its members, and the institutional and financial limitations of its architecture.

Indeed, the great wealth of legal and politico-diplomatic expertise developed by the many bodies the Council has created does not find adequate outlets in the continental political space.

Developing the potential of the Council of Europe should benefit all other international organizations insisting on the continent, starting with the European Union, with which a new and more advanced "division of labor" should be sought. Moreover, the Council of Europe has long since developed a global dimension, with legal instruments (e.g., the Istanbul Convention) and specialized and consultative bodies (such as the Venice Commission) that have a reach beyond Europe's borders.

The multilateralism that is exercised within the framework of the Council of Europe thus lends itself to analysis in a quite peculiar key that calls for an in-depth examination of the raison d'être of its intergovernmental structure and a purposeful reflection on its place in relation to the state and non-state actors with which it interacts.

Program

Valeria BIAGIOTTI
Head of the Task Force for the Italian Presidency of the Council of Europe, Directorate General for Political and Security Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

Stefano VALENTI
Head of the "No Hate Speech" Cooperation Unit, Anti-Discrmination Department, Council of Europe

Paolo DE STEFANI
Professor of International Protection of Human Rights in the University of Padova and Co-Director of the Italian Yearbook of Human Rights

Paola DEGANI
Professor of Women's Human Rights in the University of Padova

Introduces and coordinates
Marco MASCIA
UNESCO Chair of Human Rights, Democracy and Peace, University of Padova

The seminar will be held in-person (20 seats available) and online on Zoom platform: https://unipd.zoom.us/j/83497607252.

To participate, registration is required by filling out the following form: https://forms.gle/k1p6KLSyxqB5BTnm9

The Seminar is promoted by the Human Rights Center "Antonio Papisca" and the UNESCO Chair Human Rights, Democracy and Peace at the University of Padova with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The event is among the initiatives to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the University of Padova's Human Rights Center, founded by Professor Antonio Papisca in 1982.