The Council of Europe have been organising Conferences of Ministers of Justice on a regular basis since 1961. They constitute an important forum of exchange and coordination of legal policy at the pan-European level. They are one of the best known of the Council of Europe's Conferences of Specialised Ministers. Preparation of these conferences is the joint responsibility of the European Committee on legal co-operation and the European Committee on Crime Problems The Ministers of Justice usually meet each year. On a year when there is not a formal conference, an informal ministerial conference is usually organised. Each conference is devoted to one or more themes.
Past conferences and themes
1st conference, Paris, 1961 Draft convention on road traffic offences Draft recommendation on rights of prisoners Juvenile delinquency Council of Europe activities in the field of criminological research 2nd conference, Rome, 1962 Draft convention on supervision on conditionally released offenders Exchange of information on bills relating to penal and prison matters Juvenile delinquency Harmonisation of penal provisions of concern of the Rome treaty Studies on the international validity of penal sentences European Convention on Human Rights Draft uniform law on arbitration 3rd conference, Dublin, 1964 Measures to promote the comparative study of laws Information on foreign law The uniform interpretation of European treaties State immunity After care for conditionally sentenced or conditionally released offenders 4th conference, Berlin, 1966 Law reform Exchange of young lawyers Prevention of new divergencies between the laws of member States Standardisation of judicial documents Short term treatment of offenders Improving the efficacy of legal instruments for crime control at international level 5th conference, London, 1968 6th conference, The Hague, 1970 7th conference, Basel, 1972 8th conference, Lidingö,, 1973 9th conference, Vienna, 1974 1975, informal conference, Obernai 10th conference, Brussels, 1976 Current and future developments in family law Alternative measures to imprisonment Mass media legislation in member States Measures to combat new forms of concerted acts of violence 11th conference, Copenhagen, 1978 Problems posed by prisoners of foreign nationality Access to justice How can modern administration meet the needs of the citizen The death penalty Forfeiture of rights in penal law 1979, informal conference, Aix-la-Chapelle 12th conference, Luxembourg, 1980 1981, informal conference, Montreux 13th conference, Athens, 1982 1983, informal conference Rome 14th conference, Madrid, 1984 1985, informal conference, Edinburgh 15th Conference : Oslo, 1986 1987, informal conference, Helsinki 16th Conference : Lisbon, 1988 Criminal law and criminological questions raised by the propagation of infectious diseases, including AIDS The supremacy of the interests of the child in the field of private law Sexual exploitation, pornography and prostitution of and trafficking in children and young women Elaboration of a draft convention on interstate cooperation in the penal field Improving the implementation of Council of Europe conventions in the field of private law 1989, informal conference, The Hague Legal problems in connection with modern payment systems 17th conference : Istanbul, 1990 Protection of the environment through criminal law The legal heritage of the Council of Europe : its role in reinforcing links with the countries of Eastern Europe 1991, informal conference, Ottawa Sentencing 18th Conference : Nicosia, 1992 Rule of law Criminal aspects of the market economy The draft Convention on civil liability for damage resulting from activities dangerous to the environment 1993, informal conference, Lugano Protection of minorities 19th Conference, 14–15 June 1994, Valletta Corruption 1995, informal conference, Bucharest 20th Conference, 11–12 June 1996, Budapest Efficiency and fairness of civil, criminal and administrative justice 21st Conference, 10–11 June 1997, Prague 22nd Conference, 17–18 June 1999, Chişinău 23rd Conference, 8–9 June 2000, London 24th Conference, 4–5 October 2001, Moscow 25th Conference, 9–10 October 2003, Sofia 26th Conference, 7–8 April 2005, Helsinki 27th Conference, 12–13 October 2006, Yerevan Victims: place, rights and assistance 28th Conference, 25–26 October 2007, Lanzarote Emerging issues of access to justice for vulnerable groups, in particular: - migrants and asylum seekers; - and children, including children as perpetrators of crime" 29th Conference, 17–19 June 2009, Tromsø Breaking the silence – united against domestic violence 30th Conference, 24 - 26 November 2010, Istanbul
Documentation
The report for 1 was published as CEPC16. The report for 2 was published without reference. Reports for 3 to 11 and the Obernai conference were published in the "CMJ" series of documents. Reports from the 12 onwards and reports for informal conferences since 1981 have been published in the "MJU" series of documents. No report was published for the 1979 conference. The report of the 19th conference has also been published as a paying publication.
