Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Code of Police Ethics
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 1147-1151 |
Page 1147
SOURCE https://wcd.coe.int/com.instranet.InstraServlet?Command=com.instranet.CmdBlobGet&DocId=212764&SecMode=1&Admin=0&Usage=4&InstranetImage=62073, September 19, 2001.
INTRODUCTION In 2001, the Council of Europe's Directorate General for Legal Affairs made a recommendation to adopt the European Code of Police Ethics to support law enforcement reform in member states. The code was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on September 19, 2001. The appendix to the recommendation contains the actual text of the ethics code. The implementation of the code is reviewed and supported by the Council for Police Matters (PC-PM), whose seven members met for the first time in November 2004. The PC-PM serves as the advisory body for the COE's European Committee on Crime Problems.
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,
Recalling that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve greater unity between its members;
Bearing in mind that it is also the purpose of the Council of Europe to promote the rule of law, which constitutes the basis of all genuine democracies;
Considering that the criminal justice system plays a key role in safeguarding the rule of law and that the police have an essential role within that system;
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Aware of the need of all member states to provide effective crime fighting both at the national and the international level;
Considering that police activities to a large extent are performed in close contact with the public and that police efficiency is dependent on public support;
Recognising that most European police organisations—in addition to upholding the law—are performing social as well as service functions in society;
Convinced that public confidence in the police is closely related to their attitude and behaviour towards the public, in particular their respect for the human dignity and fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual as enshrined, in particular, in the European Convention on Human Rights;
Considering the principles expressed in the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the Declaration on the Police;
Bearing in mind principles and rules laid down in texts related to police matters—criminal, civil and public law as well as human rights aspects as adopted by the Committee of Ministers, decisions and judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and principles adopted by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
Recognising the diversity of police structures and means of organising the police in Europe;
Considering the need to establish common European principles and guidelines for the overall objectives, performance and accountability of the police to safeguard security and individual's rights in democratic societies governed by the rule of law,
Recommends that the governments of member states be guided in their internal legislation, practice and codes of conduct of the police by the principles set out in the text of the European Code of Police Ethics, appended to the present recommendation, with a view to their progressive implementation, and to give the widest possible circulation to this text.
This code applies to traditional public police forces or police services, or to other publicly authorised and/or controlled bodies with the primary objectives of maintaining law and order in civil society, and who are empowered by the state to use force and/or special powers for these purposes.
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The main purposes of the police in a democratic society governed by the rule of law are:
to maintain public tranquillity and law and order in society;
to protect and respect the individual's fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined, in particular, in the European Convention on Human Rights;
to prevent and combat crime;
to detect crime
to provide assistance and service functions to the public.
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