Päivi Hirvelä elected a judge for the European Court of Human Rights

Press release 204/2006
27 June, 2006

On Tuesday, 27 June, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected Päivi Hirvelä, State Prosecutor at the Office of the Prosecutor General, to serve on the bench of the European Court of Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights set up under the European Convention on Human Rights is composed of a number of judges equal to the number of States that have ratified the Convention. Judges are elected for a term of six years, after which they may be re-elected. A judge’s term of office ends when the judge reaches 70 years of age.

Matti Pellonpää, the judge currently representing Finland on the bench of the European Court of Human Rights, will leave on 1 January 2007 to take up his new appointment to the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland. Hirvelä replaces her predecessor and will complete his term on the bench, which runs until 31 October 2010.

If Protocol 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights comes into force during Hirvelä’s term on the bench, her term will be extended to a total of nine years and she will not be eligible for re-election.

Päivi Hirvelä, Licentiate of Law, has held the post of State Prosecutor since 1999. She is currently on leave of absence, compiling her doctoral dissertation on the position of the child in criminal process.

Additional information: Irma Ertman, Director General of the Legal Department of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5700, or Legislative Secretary Camilla Busck-Nielsen, tel. +358 9 1605 5727