In the context of the fight against the pandemic, the Standing Committee of the Conference of INGOs expressed its strong commitment to the construction of a diverse and open society, based on human rights, the rule of law and meaningful democratic participation. The statement emphasize that NGOs fulfil a fundamental role in checking the emergency measures for necessity and proportionality, because any intervention by the State in individual rights and freedoms must be proportional, contextualized and limited in time. Strong guarantees of the rule of law are necessary to increase citizen trust in public life. The demands and expectations of citizens relating to the exercise of public ethics are legitimate and oblige decision makers to guarantee citizen’s right to information, according to standards established by the Council of Europe. Read more here.
Source: CoE