Irish judge elected as new President of the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights has today elected Irish judge Síofra O’Leary as its new President.

Síofra O’Leary is the first female President of the European Court of Human Rights and she succeeds Robert Spano from Iceland.

She will take up office on 1 November 2022.

Dublin born Síofra O’Leary holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from University College Dublin and a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

She has worked as a judge at the ECtHR since July 2015 and has been the vice-president of the Court since January of this year.

The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe member

States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.