Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 47-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe is an older and wider circle of nations than the 27-member European Union and oversees the European Court of Human Rights.

The Assembly is made up of 324 members drawn from the national parliaments of the Council of Europe’s member states, and generally meets four times a year for week-long plenary sessions in Strasbourg. It is one of the two statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, along with the Committee of Ministers, the executive body representing governments, with which it holds an ongoing dialogue.

The Assembly held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949.

(Source: Wikipedia)