Summary
- Adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 17 May 2024; opened for signature in Vilnius on 5 Sep 2024. The Council of Europe calls it the first international legally binding treaty in this field.
- Status on 19 Oct 2026 (Treaty Office chart): 21 signatories (15 Council of Europe members, 5 non-members: Canada, Israel, Japan, United States, Uruguay, plus the European Union) and 1 ratification (EU, 15 May 2026). It needs 5 ratifications, including at least 3 Council of Europe member states, to enter into force, so it is not in force yet.
- It is technology-neutral and covers the AI lifecycle. Core principles: human dignity and autonomy; equality and non-discrimination; privacy and data protection; transparency and oversight; accountability; reliability; safe innovation.
- Parties must provide documentation and remedies so people can challenge AI-based decisions, a route to complain to authorities, notice when people are dealing with an AI rather than a human, and iterative risk and impact assessments, with the option of bans or moratoria on some uses.
- Covers public authorities (and private actors acting for them) and private actors. For the private sector, each Party can apply the treaty directly or take other measures that meet its aims. National security, national defence and most research and development are carved out.
Who it applies to
- Directly: states and the EU that ratify it. Companies are affected only through the national or EU laws that implement it.
- India has not signed and did not take part in drafting (the drafting list names CoE members, observer states and six other non-members, not India).
- Not extraterritorial in itself; reach depends on each Party's implementing law.
Key dates
- Ad hoc Committee on AI (CAHAI) starts feasibility work
- Committee on AI (CAI) takes over drafting and negotiation
- Adopted by the Committee of Ministers (133rd Session, Strasbourg)
- Opened for signature in Vilnius; first signatures including UK, US, EU, Israel, Norway
- European Union ratifies; first and only ratification as of 2026-10-19
Full date record
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2019 | CAHAI begins feasibility work |
| 2022 | CAI takes over drafting |
| 2024-05-17 | Adopted by Committee of Ministers |
| 2024-09-05 | Opened for signature (Vilnius) |
| 2026-05-15 | EU ratification deposited (only ratification so far) |
| Not stated in the source | Entry into force (needs 5 ratifications incl. 3 CoE member states) |
Penalties and enforcement
- No fines in the treaty. Once in force, a Conference of the Parties will monitor implementation and can hold public hearings.
- Enforcement against companies will come from each Party's own law. In the EU, the EU AI Act is the main implementing vehicle (EU link to the AI Act is a secondary observation; the CoE page does not say so).
What it means for an Indian company
- No direct duty today, and India is not a signatory.
- Indirect effect for exporters: customers in the UK, EU, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and other signatories may face national rules built on this treaty, and will push requirements down to vendors.
- Its themes line up with existing controls: SC-AI-006 AI impact assessment (people and society) (human rights impact assessment), SC-AI-022 Disclose AI interaction to users (tell people they are talking to AI), SC-AI-027 Right to contest and human review for individuals and SC-AI-028 Customer grievance redressal for AI (challenge and complain), and SC-AI-032 Logging and record keeping (documentation that makes challenge possible).
- Track ratifications in SC-AI-009 Regulatory applicability register and horizon scanning; entry into force will follow a fixed delay after the fifth qualifying ratification.
Obligations
Full obligation breakdown coming
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Glossary
- Council of Europe (CoE): a 46-member European human rights organisation, separate from the EU. It runs the European Convention on Human Rights.
- CETS: Council of Europe Treaty Series; No. 225 is this treaty's number.
- Signature vs ratification: signing shows intent; ratifying is the formal act that makes the treaty binding on that state.
- Entry into force: the date a treaty starts to bind its Parties.
- Conference of the Parties: the body of Party representatives that will oversee implementation.
Key takeaways
- Binding treaty in form, but not in force on 2026-10-19: 21 signatories, 1 ratification (EU).
- Once in force it binds only Parties; companies feel it through national laws.
- India has not signed.
Official sources
- CoE Treaty Office: signatures and ratifications of CETS 225 (status as of 19/10/2026), accessed 2026-10-19
- CoE Treaty Office: details of Treaty No. 225, accessed 2026-10-19
- CoE: The Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, accessed 2026-10-19
- CoE press release: adoption of the first international treaty on AI, accessed 2026-10-19 (adoption date confirmed via search snippet of this page)
- CoE news: European Union ratifies the Framework Convention, accessed 2026-10-19 (seen via search listing)
This is general information, not legal advice. Last verified 19 Oct 2026 against the official source. Laws change; confirm the current position with qualified counsel before acting.