The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elects judges to the European Court of Human Rights from a list of three candidates submitted to the Assembly by Contracting Parties to the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 22 of the European Convention on Human Rights). It does so on the basis of recommendations it receives from its Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (AS/Cdh).
According to Article 21 of the European Convention on Human Rights, "judges shall be of high moral character and must either possess the qualifications required for appointment to high judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognised competence."
The AS/Cdh interviews each of the three candidates in person, scrutinises their CVs and makes recommendation to the Assembly concerning the qualifications of these candidates. The Assembly then proceeds to the election of judges for a single term of office of nine years.
The Committee (AS/Cdh) consists of 20 titular members and 20 alternates appointed by the Bureau of the Assembly on the basis of proposals by the Assembly’s five political groups according to the D’Hondt system (and subject to ratification by the Assembly). The Chairperson of the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and the Assembly’s Chairperson of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination are ex officio members. In order to assess the skills and knowledge of candidates, members of the Committee must have the necessary level of competence and experience in the legal field.
The meetings of the Committee are held in camera and interpretation is provided in the two official languages of the Council of Europe, English and French.
For more details, see:
Detailed information on the election procedure
Country-by-country "table of progress" of the election procedure