Yesterday, the Parliamentary Assembly elected two new judges to the Court, in respect of Estonia and of Greece. The new Estonian judge will be Ms Julia Laffranque, who won an absolute majority of 116 votes, more than her two opponents taken together. Her nine-year term of office will in principle start on 1 January 2011. Ms Laffranque (1973) is currently justice at the supreme court of Estonia and associate professor at the University of Tartu. She was once an ad hoc judge in 2006 at the European Court in the case of Harkmann v. Estonia.
In respect of Greece a very well-known human rights lawyer was elected: Mr Linos-Alexander Sicilianos (1960), again with more votes than his opponents combined. His nine-year term of office will commence on 18 May 2011. He has a few times litigated cases in Strasbourg, is an academic as well, and among many other functions has been a member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Congratulations to both!