Council of Europe of the national parliaments of each member state. The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent institution within the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of and respect for human rights in the member states. The Secretary General heads the secretariat of the organisation. Other major CoE bodies include the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and the European Audiovisual Observatory. The headquarters of the Council of Europe are in Strasbourg, France. English and French are its two official languages. The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress also use German, Italian, Russian, and Turkish for
INGOs Conference of the Council of Europe Thus, it established the Expert Council on NGO Law which mainly monitors the implementation of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the legal status of non-governmental organisations in Europe (CM/Rec (2007)14). In October 2009 it adopted the Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process, recognised by the Committee of Ministers “as a reference document for the Council of Europe, and as a basis for a possible further development of the framework for the empowerment of citizens to be involved in conducting public affairs in European countries” (Declaration CM 21 October 2009).