Composition of the Court
Election of Judges
Although judges are elected in respect of a State, they hear cases as individuals and do not represent that State. They are totally independent and cannot engage in any activity that would be incompatible with their duty of independence and impartiality.
Read more about the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights.
Judges of the Court
In order of precedence as at 16/04/2024
Judges of the Court since 1959
This list includes all national judges of the Court since 1959, by countries, including the judges currently appointed.
List of judges of the Court since 1959
Ad hoc Judges
When the national judge does not sit in the case because of inability, withdrawal or exemption, an ad hoc judge is appointed by the President of the Court from a list submitted in advance by the government concerned.
List of ad hoc judges
Single Judges
Manifestly inadmissible applications are examined by a single judge formation.
List of Single Judges
Election of the Registrar and Deputy Registrars
The plenary Court shall elect the Registrar and one or more Deputy Registrars.
Sections
A Section is an administrative entity and a Chamber is a judicial formation of the Court within a given Section. The Court has 5 Sections in which Chambers and Committees are formed (Rule 25 of the Rules of Court). Each Section has a President, a Vice-President and a number of other judges. The composition of the Sections is geographically and gender balanced, to the extent possible, and reflects the different legal systems among the Contracting Parties (Rule 25 § 2).
The overview below provides a list of judges by Section, as well as the complete lists of various Chamber and Committee formations operating within each Section.
Last updated : 16/04/2024
Section I
President
Marko Bošnjak
Vice-President
Alena Poláčková*
Krzysztof Wojtyczek
Lәtif Hüseynov
Péter Paczolay
Ivana Jelić
Gilberto Felici
Erik Wennerström
Raffaele Sabato
Registrar
Ilse Freiwirth
Deputy Registrar
Liv Tigerstedt
Section II
President
Arnfinn Bårdsen
Vice-President
Jovan Ilievski*
Pauliine Koskelo
Saadet Yüksel
Lorraine Schembri Orland
Frédéric Krenc
Diana Sârcu
Davor Derenčinović
Gediminas Sagatys
Registrar
Hasan Bakırcı
Deputy Registrar
Dorothee von Arnim
Section III
President
Pere Pastor Vilanova
Vice-President
Jolien Schukking*
Georgios Serghides
Darian Pavli
Peeter Roosma
Ioannis Ktistakis
Andreas Zünd
Oddný Mjöll Arnardóttir
Diana Kovatcheva
Registrar
Milan Blasko
Deputy Registrar
Olga Chernishova
Section IV
President
Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer
Vice-President
Tim Eicke*
Faris Vehabović
Branko Lubarda
Armen Harutyunyan
Anja Seibert-Fohr
Ana Maria Guerra Martins
Anne Louise Bormann
Sebastian Rădulețu
Registrar
Andrea Tamietti
Deputy Registrar
Simeon Petrovski
Section V
President
Georges Ravarani
Vice-President
Lado Chanturia*
Síofra O’Leary
Carlo Ranzoni
Mārtiņš Mits
Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström
María Elósegui
Mattias Guyomar
Kateřina Šimáčková
Mykola Gnatovskyy
Registrar
Victor Soloveytchik
Deputy Registrar
Martina Keller
Grand Chamber
Composition of the Grand Chamber
The Grand Chamber is made up of 17 judges: the Court’s President and Vice-Presidents, the Section Presidents and the national judge, together with other judges selected by drawing of lots.
The Grand Chamber in brief
Practice of the Grand Chamber Panel
This document describes the general practice followed by the Panel of the Grand Chamber when deciding on requests for referral in accordance with Article 43 of the Convention. It includes statistics, an explanation of Article 43 of the Convention and examples of case-law.
English
Italian* (translation commissioned by the Italian Government)
Turkish*
*The translations into non-official languages come from various sources. Only the English and French versions are authentic.