Juha Lavapuro elected as judge to the European Court of Human Rights

On 26 June 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected Doctor of Laws, LL.M. Juha Lavapuro as judge of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Finland, for a term of office to begin on 1 January 2025 at the latest. The Court has a total of 46 judg-es, a number equal to that of the High Contracting Parties to the Euro-pean Convention on Human Rights. One judge is elected with respect of each Contracting Party, and the judges serve in their individual capacity, independently and impartially.

The election took place by secret ballot on the basis of a list of three candidates submitted by Finland. The other candidates proposed on the list were Pekka Aalto, Doctor of Laws and LL.M., trained on the Bench and Satu Heikkilä, Doctor of Laws, LL.M., Master of Science in Economics, Master of Social Sciences, and Master 2 de droit et études européennes. Before the vote, the Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights interviewed the candidates and gave its recommendations to the Assembly.

The judges of the European Court of Human Rights are elected for a non-renewable term of office of nine years. The term of the judge elected in respect of Finland, Pauliine Koskelo, will end 31 December 2024 at the latest.

A public expression-of-interest procedure was organised for the nomination of candidates. The Expert Advisory Board appointed by the Government assessed the qualifications of the persons who had expressed their interest in the office. The members of the Board are representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court and the Office of the Prosecutor General. In addition, the Expert Advisory Board has one representative of university units engaged in legal research and instruction and one representative of the Finnish Bar Association.

The final list of candidates approved by the Government was submitted to the Advisory Panel of Experts on Candidates for  Election as Judge to the European Court of Human Rights, working connection with the Council of Europe. The Panel gave a confidential opinion on the qualifications of the candidates. 

The European Court of Human Rights is based in Strasbourg, France. Its task is to supervise the compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights in the Contracting States. An individual or a legal person may apply to the Court if they consider that their rights safeguarded by the Convention have been violated. The Court may also consider Inter-State applications in which a Contracting State allege that another Contracting State has violated the Convention.