The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, submitted to the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe a list of three candidates for the office of Judge of the European Court of Human Rights. One of them is the Head of the Department of Public International Law dr hab. Adam Wisniewski, prof. UG. Following approval of the list by the relevant body, the candidates will be selected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe during its plenary session from September 30 to October 4, this year.
In addition to prof. Adam Wiśniewski, the list also includes dr Anna Adamska-Gallant and dr hab. Małgorzata Wąsek-Wiaderek, prof. KUL. One of these persons will replace prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Wojtyczek, whose term of office has come to an end, as a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights.
Judges of the European Court of Human Rights are elected for a nine-year term. The seat of the Court is in Strasbourg, with 46 judges, who rule on cases referring to the European Convention on Human Rights and its additional protocols. Each judge represents one of the States Parties of the Convention.
European Court of Human Rights headquarters
The Convention sets out the fundamental and inalienable rights that can be invoked by any citizen of the States Parties. Among the rights enshrined in the international treaty are the right to life, the right to marriage, freedom of expression or the prohibition of discrimination of any kind.
According to the Convention, Judges "should be people of the highest moral standard and must either be qualified to hold high judicial office or be lawyers of recognised competence" (source). Prof. Adam Wisniewski has more than 20 years of experience in the field of human rights as a researcher, university professor and legal advisor. In 2009, he obtained his postdoctoral degree on the basis of his thesis entitled The concept of the margin of appreciation in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Since 2010, he has been Head of the Department of Public International Law at the University of Gdańsk, and since 2024 he has been a member of the Advisory Legal Committee to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. (more information on the candidates).
Minister Radosław Sikorski handed over a list of three candidates to the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 29 July. The candidates were selected by the Panel for the Selection of Candidates from the Republic of Poland for the office of Judge of the European Court of Human Rights. They were also given a favourable opinion by the Council of Europe's Advisory Panel of Experts for the Selection of Candidates for Election as Judge of the European Court of Human Rights.
At its meeting on September 16-17, 2024, the list will be considered by the Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the Election of Judges of the ECHR. If the Commission is satisfied that the list meets the procedural and substantive requirements, it will hold hearings of the candidates. In this case, the Parliamentary Assembly will elect a new judge from the list of candidates at its plenary session from September 30 to October 4, 2024.