The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced the appointment of serving Greek judge Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, as its new President.
Judge Sicilianos was elected on Monday by the court's plenary session and will take over from Guido Raimondi on May 5, 2019.
Commenting on the appointment, the Marangopoulos Foundation For Human Rights said in a statement that it is the first time in the sixty-year history of the European institution that a Greek judge is elected in this position.
Sicilianos had held numerous top-level positions in European and international organisations, including the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, and the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union.
He is also the author of five monographs, editor or co-editor of 14 books and author of about 100 articles and studies in general international law and the international protection of human rights in French, English and Greek.
The European Court of Human Rights has issued over 47,000 decisions concerning a total of 47 countries, while some 60,000 cases are currently pending, including civil and political rights, as well as key issues such as the economic crisis, terrorism, the independence of the judiciary, the refugee crisis and armed conflicts in Europe.
President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos congratulated Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos on his election.