Within the Council, there are the Human Rights Working Group (COHOM), the Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens’ Rights and Free Movement of Persons (FREMP), the Working Group “Asylum” and the Working Group “Public International Law”; within the latter, there is a training session dedicated to the International Criminal Court.

The Council’s specific activities in the field of human rights include the elaboration of several "guidelines", published since 2008 to ensure a common framework for the promotion and protection of human rights in third countries within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the possibility (voting by an absolute majority) to impose individual sanctions under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, established in 2020.