Election of two new judges to the European Court of Human Rights

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has elected Andreas Zünd as judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Switzerland and Ioannis Ktistakis as judge to the Court in respect of Greece.

Mr Zünd and Mr Ktistakis, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, are elected judges of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of nine years which shall commence no later than three months after their election.

Judges are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elects the judges of the European Court of Human Rights, providing them with democratic legitimacy.

According to the European Convention on Human Rights, judges must "be of high moral character and possess the qualifications required for appointment to high judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognised competence".

To ensure these standards are met, there are two phases to the election process – firstly a national selection procedure, in which each State party chooses a list of three qualified candidates, and secondly the election procedure undertaken by the Assembly, in which a special parliamentary committee assesses the qualifications of the three candidates, as well as the fairness of the national selection procedure, before the Assembly proceeds with the election. (pace.coe.int)

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