Minister Henriksson to attend Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice in Strasbourg

Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson will attend the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice in Strasbourg on 14–15 October. At the conference, the justice ministers will discuss, among other things, how digitalisation can be utilised to promote access to justice and what kind of criminal law considerations may arise along with the introduction of new technologies.

In addition to attending the conference, Henriksson will meet in Strasbourg with Marija Pejčinović Burić, the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, President of the European Court of Human Rights, and Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, among others. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss, for example, the current situation of the Council of Europe and the future challenges facing the organisation, and to highlight how Finland, in its capacity as the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, is promoting the efforts to strengthen the rule of law.

During the conference, Minister Henriksson will have several bilateral meetings with justice ministers from different countries. Henriksson will meet with the Russian Minister of Justice Alexander Konovalov, with whom she aims to discuss judicial cooperation between Finland and Russia, among other things. Henriksson will also meet with the Minister of Justice of North Macedonia Renata Deskoska.

The Council of Europe's key mission is to promote human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. Conventions binding on the Member States and their monitoring are an important tool in this work. The Council of Europe has 47 Member States. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the organisation.

Inquiries:

Malin Brännkärr, State Secretary, tel. +358 40 534 7727, [email protected]

Jussi Mäkinen, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 150 528, [email protected]