The Council has nine members in total, including the chair and vice-chair. They are appointed in a personal capacity by Royal Decree for a period of four years, after which they may be reappointed. The members of the Council are drawn from the worlds of academia, public administration and knowledge institutions. They each have specific expertise in the area of human rights, peace and security, development cooperation or European integration.

The Council meets once a month to discuss advisory reports currently in progress and to adopt completed reports.

Professor Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is the chair of the AIV.