The Council of Europe consists of 45 member states aimed at protecting human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law. Any European state may join the Council of Europe providing they accept these principles and protect human rights within their jurisdiction. As an intergovernmental organisation the Council of Europe seeks to find solutions to problems, such as discrimination and xenophobia, facing its member states and supports political legislative and constitutional reform. Generally it makes recommendations as opposed to imposing legally binding rules, although a number of human rights instruments are legally binding on member states such as the European Convention on Human Rights (1950), (ECHR).

The ECHR sets out fundamental civil and political rights; Article 1 provides that Contracting Parties must secure the rights and freedoms to all persons within their jurisdiction. Rights protected by the ECHR include the right to life, the prohibition of torture inhuman or degrading treatment, the right to a fair trial, the right to respect for family and private life and the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Individuals whose rights under the ECHR have been violated may petition the European Court of Human Rights, established by the Convention. In the case of Loizidou v Turkey the Court illuminated the concept of jurisdiction under the Convention and stated that jurisdiction is not limited to the national territory of states. The responsibility of Contracting Parties can be engaged because of acts of their authorities which have an effect outside their own territory. This principle is established under ECHR jurisprudence as described below.

The case law of the ECHR on the protection of migrants within the territory of Council of Europe states has developed rapidly. In the seminal case of Soering v UK, in 1989 the European Court ruled that it would be contrary to Article 3 to return a person to another state"'where substantial grounds have been shown for believing that the person concerned, if extradited, faces a real risk of being subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the requesting country". The line of jurisprudence under Article 8 has placed restrictions on the rights of States to expel, and in some instances refuse residence permits to non-citizens who are able to establish that their removal would impinge on their family life. For example in the case of Beldjoudi v France in 1992 the Court found that the deportation of a long settled Algerian national failed to respect his right to family life under Article 8 between himself, and his parents and brothers and sisters.

Article 4, Protocol 4 of the ECHR prohibits the collective expulsion of aliens without a reasonable and objective examination of the particular case of each individual of the group. The Belgian authorities violated this provision when they attempted to expel a group of Roma families to Slovakia in the case of Conka v Belgium, they also failed to provide them with an effective remedy, as guaranteed by Article 13 of the ECHR, to assert their Convention rights under Article 4 of Protocol 4.

The European Social Charter of 1961 (ESC), as amended in 1996 is the counterpart of the ECHR, which sets out rights, and freedoms of the people within the Council of Europe in the economic and social sphere. The ESC protects a number of rights including: the right to work; the right to protection of health; the right to social security, including the right of equal treatment with States nationals and nationals of other Contracting Parties; the right to social and medical assistance; the right to benefit from social welfare services; and the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection. Contracting Parties to the Charter are required to submit reports on their undertakings under the ESC. The Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter Providing for a System of Collective Complaints (1995) came into force in 1998. It provides for a number of organisations and NGOs, and employer and Trade Unions to be able to complain against state parties under the Charter.

Protocol 12 to the ECHR was opened for signature in November 2000 and sets out a free standing right to equality on a number of grounds including sex, race, colour, language, religion, national or social origin and birth. Unlike Article 14 of the ECHR, Protocol 12 is not parasitic and does not require claims of discrimination to be linked to substantive provisions of the Convention. Protocol 12 also prohibits discrimination by public authorities. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities came into force in February 1998. It aims to effectively protect the rights and freedoms of members of national minorities. It is not legally binding on domestic jurisdictions, rather it sets out objectives to be pursued by means of legislation and governmental policy at the national level, and bilateral and multilateral treaties.

Analysis provided by: Anisa Niaz LLM (Public Law), United Kingdom.