Last week, the European Court of Human Rights announced a number of position changes in its internal organisation. Most pre-eminently, the Court elected its new President: Marko Bošnjak, the Court's judge in respect of Slovenia. Since 2022, he has been a vice-President of the Court and his term as a judge started in 2016, meaning it will end in 2025. His term as a President will thus be relatively short, following a pattern of the Court's Presidents of the last years - showing what a different type of institution the Court has become compared its early decades when Presidents served for many years on end in a parttime Court with much fewer cases. Judge Bošnjak succeeds the Court's current President Síofra O’Leary on 2 July 2024.
The election led to other shifts: Arnfinn Bårdsen, the judge in respect of Norway, has been elected as Vice-President. And Ivana Jelić, the judge in respect of Montenegro, has been elected as new Section President. They will also take up their duties on 2 July.
Good luck to all in their new positions!
