Council of Europe conventions/treaties are also open for signature to non-member states, thus facilitating equal co-operation with countries outside Europe. The Council of Europe's most famous achievement is the European Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted in 1950 following a report by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, and followed on from the United Nations 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' (UDHR). The Convention created the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Court supervises compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and thus functions as the highest European court. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if
Congress of the Council of Europe can be represented at meetings or events of these organizations and makes its policies and priorities known, in particular when they fall within the scope of these organisations' fields of activities. National (and European) associations of local and regional authorities play a role in promoting local democracy which is vital to the work of the Congress of the Council of Europe. They deliver information about Congress activities across to their countries, particularly by lobbying in their governments. They also, in some cases, play a part in the procedure whereby their country's national delegation to the Congress is designated. National associations