issued by the Registrar of the Court
no. 860
16.11.2010
European Court of Human Rights elects Vice-President and
Section Presidents
The European Court of Human Rights has elected a new Vice-President –
Françoise Tulkens (Belgian) – re-elected Josep Casadevall (Andorran) as a Section
President and elected two new Section Presidents – Nina Vajić (Croatian) and Dean
Spielmann (Luxemburger).
They have all been elected for a three-year term and will take up their respective duties
on 1 February 2011.
The Court is composed of one judge in respect of each of the 47 States to have ratified
the European Convention on Human Rights. Judges work in five Sections from which
Chambers of seven judges are constituted. The Court also sits as a Grand Chamber of 17
judges. The Court has two Vice-Presidents both of whom also preside over Sections, the
other three Sections each having a Section President.
Judge’s CVs
Judge Tulkens
Born on 12 September 1942 in Brussels
Doctor of Law, 1965
Special diploma in criminology, 1965
Higher education teaching certificate (Agrégation), 1976
Advocate, Brussels Bar, 1965-68
Researcher FNRS (Fonds national de la recherche scientifique)1968-76
Professor at the University of Louvain and Visiting Professor at the Universities of
Geneva, Ottawa, Paris I and Rennes, 1976-98
Chairwoman of the Scientific Committee of the European Law-making Research Group,
1993-98 (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris)
Editor-in-chief of the Revue internationale de droit pénal, 1994-98
Administrator (1994-98) and President (1996-98) of the Ligue des droits de l’homme
(French-speaking Community of Belgium)
Expert for the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, 1996-97
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 November 1998
Section Vice-President between 2001 and 2003
Section President since 19 January 2007.
Judge Casadevall
Born 10 September 1946 in Gerona
Law degree, Madrid, 1978
Secretary General of the Municipality of Andorra la Vella, 1970-80
Lawyer practising in Andorra, 1980
Secretary General of the Andorra Bar Association, 1984-92
President of the Bar Association, 1993-95
Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Spanish National Open University, 1985-98
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since March 1996
Section Vice-President 1998-2000 and 2004-2008
President of Section since 1 February 2008.
Judge Vajić
Born on 22 February 1948 in Zagreb
Law studies, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, 1966-71
Diploma Programme in International Law, the Graduate Institute of International Studies
(IUHEI), University of Geneva, 1978-80
Doctor of Law, 1984
Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, since 1971; Professor of Public International Law,
since 1996
Director of the Institute of Public and Private International Law, Faculty of Law,
University of Zagreb, 1991-94
Alternate Arbitrator to the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Convention on
Conciliation and Arbitration in the Framework of the OSCE (1994-2007)
Member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of
Europe 1997-98
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 November 1998
Section Vice-President since 1 February 2008.
Judge Spielmann
Born on 26 October 1962 in Luxembourg
Bachelor’s law degree, Catholic University of Louvain, 1988
Master of Laws, Cambridge University, 1990
Lawyer, member of the Luxembourg Bar since 1989
Barrister since 1992
Partner in a law firm in Luxembourg, 2001-2004
Assistant lecturer in criminal law at Louvain University, 1991-1997
Lecturer and holder of various courses at the Universities of Luxembourg, 1996-2004
and Nancy, 1997-2008
Member of the Advisory Human Rights Commission, Luxembourg, 2000-2004
Member of the Institut Grand-Ducal, agrégé 2002-2005, associate since 2005
Member of the European Union Network of Independent Experts in Fundamental Rights,
2002-2004
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 24 June 2004.
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Céline Menu-Lange (tel: + 33 3 90 21 58 77)
Frédéric Dolt (tel: + 33 3 90 21 53 39)
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Nina Salomon (tel: + 33 3 90 21 49 79)
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.
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