The prize is decided by a jury consisting of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly and six independent personalities with expertise in human rights issues.
The prize is awarded at a special ceremony which takes place during the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg.
The agreement on the creation of the award was signed at the Czernin Palace in Prague on March 25, 2013 by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Jean-Claude Mignon, Marta Smolíková for the Václav Havel Library and Professor František Janouch for the Charta 77 Foundation.
Nominations are made online, via a page[23] on the Assembly's website, in either of the two official languages of the Council of Europe, English or French.
According to the prize regulations,[24] sponsors must give details of the candidate's work to defend human rights, and provide supporting documentation.