The Committee of Ministers is the Council of Europe’s  highest decision-making body. It consists of the 47 ministers of foreign affairs of each member state or their permanent diplomatic representatives in Strasbourg (Ministers’ delegates). The chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers changes every half year (May/November) and holds a meeting on ministerial level once a year. The Ministers' delegates meet weekly. The Committee of Ministers decides Council of Europe policy and approves its budget and programme of activities.

The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) consists of 318 members of the 47 national Parliaments. They are divided into 5 political fractions: Socialist Group (SOC), Group of the European People's Party in the Council of Europe (EPP/CD), Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), European Democrat Group (EDG), Unified European Left Group (UEL). The PACE meets four times a year. It develops resolutions, recommendations, opinions and guidelines for Governments, Parliaments or political parties. The PACE also monitors elections and crisis-regions in Europe, elects the Secretary General, the Human Rights Commissioner and the judges to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Secretary General is elected by the Parliamentary Assembly for a five-year term as the head of the Organisation. He is responsible for the strategic planning and direction of the Council’s work programme and budget. He is Council of Europe’s public representative.

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is a meeting of Europe’s regions and municipalities, where elected representatives can discuss common problems, pool their experiences and develop policies. It works to strengthen democracy and improve services at local and regional level.

The Commissioner for Human Rights independently addresses and brings attention to human rights violations. The HR Commissioner leads a dialogue with governmenst and makes state visits to CoE member states. He also publishes recommendations regarding the state of human rights in member states, raises awareness, develops and promotes national human rights structures.

The European Court of Human Rights is the permanent judicial body which garantees for all Europeans the rights safeguarded by the European Convention on Human Rights. It is open to states and individuals regardless of nationality. The Court plays one of CoE’s most significant roles, because it oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. If the member state breaks an individual’s human right protected by the Convention, there is a possibility to bring a complaint against the member state to the Court, after all the possibilities of appeal in the member state concerned were exhausted.