The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is one of the four institutions of the Council of Europe, the other three being the Committee of Ministers, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the European Court of Human Rights.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe met for the first time on 10 August 1949, which makes it the oldest international parliamentary assembly of democratically elected members based on an international agreement. In the meantime, the Assembly has grown to comprise 630 members (315 members and 315 deputy members) who are elected or appointed from within the national parliaments of the 46 member states.
Switzerland became the 17th member of the Council of Europe in 1963.