On 2 April 2026, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, addressed the participants of the 50th session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on the implementation of the European Convention by local and regional authorities and on the lessons drawn from the Court's case-law.
After congratulating Gunn Marit Helgesen on her election as President of the Congress, the President highlighted the threefold role of local and regional authorities as actors of democracy, as promoters of human rights, and as guarantors of the rule of law.
He noted that local and regional authorities play a vital role in upholding and implementing the rule of law by safeguarding the human rights of their residents, including through the implementation of Court judgments that concern them; by nurturing a culture of legality at the local level; and by acting as strongholds of democratic resilience and pluralism at times when the rule of law comes under attack.
Emphasising the importance of respecting human rights at the local level, he concluded his speech by stressing that solutions to human rights problems could be found "just around the corner, in the environments that shape each person's world, near to home."
Speech by President Mattias Guyomar
