The European Declaration on the Police contains sections on deontology, police status, and the police in wartime and in other exceptional situations. The Council of Europe recognizes that the existence of the police must not limit the full exercise of human rights and fundamental liberties. The police may not be used entirely at the discretion of the governing powers. Instead, officers are to be controlled by appropriate rules of conduct defined independently, to avoid human rights violations in the exercise of police functions. The Code of Conduct adopted by the United Nations consists of eight articles defining the obligations of those individuals responsible for enforcement of the law. The goal of the code is essentially the same as that of the declaration cited above: protection of human dignity and fundamental rights of every individual. Other articles prohibit the use of force unless absolutely necessary, require protection of confidentiality, and condemn tolerance of torture and corruption. In the Code of Conduct, however, there has been a shift of emphasis. The Code of Conduct views the guidelines for conduct as only one of a variety of means for protecting human rights; the code is only the means to an end. All individuals responsible for applying laws, including police officers, are invited not just to carry out legally defined functions but to rediscover the human values associated with those functions and to accept duty as a personal obligation. Notes are supplied.