The European Council

Over 10 years ago, the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly took on the special task of monitoring the new Eastern member states for their adherence to the commitments they had entered into. Liechtenstein's constitutional reform prompted the Assembly to try to extend its monitoring to the elder member states as well. The attempt at monitoring - not comprised within the charter - eventually ended in a dialogue.This study examines in depth the Council of Europe's legal bases, organisation and duties in this regard, basing the work on the charter and a multitude of the Council's legal acts and documents. The assessment provides informative, penetrating insight into the tensions of law and reality, finely elucidating the antagonism of the states' international law and sovereignty, and yielding a rich source of reading for everyone interested in politics, international law, European law and state law.