A/HRC/15/56 Annex III Regional consultation for Europe Summary of discussions Experts from the Council of Europe (CoE), including members of different Committees and Groups of Experts, representatives of the European Court of Human Rights, the Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs and the Office of the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), as well as United Nations human rights experts, representatives of Governments, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from the region, NGOs, and staff of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) discussed existing ways and means of cooperation and new approaches to developing and deepen them. Participants recognized the importance of cooperation between the UN human rights system and the various European human rights mechanisms, for the purpose of better promoting and protecting and enhancing universality of human rights. Participants also noted the complementarity between the international, regional and national human rights systems and the need to have effective cooperation, especially in the implementation of human rights norms at the national level. They also highlighted the importance of cooperation with NHRIs and civil society organizations in the implementation of human rights norms at the national level, and further indicated the importance of establishing NHRIs where they do not exist, expanding their mandates when these do not cover all human rights issues and ensuring their independence and that they have a broad range powers, in compliance with the Paris Principles. The following recommendations were discussed: 1. Both systems should build upon their existing means of cooperation from the planning stage onwards. 2. The strengthening of the regular exchange of information between the UN and the European mechanisms could include: • Developing a more regular and formalized system of exchange of jurisprudence, which could be facilitated through improvements to websites and databases. Judicial colloquia could also be organized, with the active participation of NGOs and NHRIs, in order to exchange experiences and jurisprudence. • More reciprocal use made of findings and recommendations by European and UN human rights mechanisms, thereby contributing to the universality of human rights and the coherence of international human rights case law. 3. Joint efforts to follow up judgments, decisions and recommendations resulting from the UN and European mechanisms would be a welcome development since, even though there are already some mechanisms for follow-up, implementation of judgments, recommendations and views still remains a great challenge. 4. Existing cooperation with NHRIs should be enhanced so as to facilitate their role in monitoring the application of international human rights standards and in followingup on the implementation of judgments, decisions and recommendations resulting from UN 28