(coe.int) - The European Court of Human Rights elected Jean-Paul Costa (French) as its new President for a three-year term, beginning on 19 January 2007.
The President is elected by secret ballot by the Court's 46 judges and may be re-elected.
Mr Costa replaces Luzius Wildhaber (Swiss), who has been the Court's President since 1 November 1998. Mr Wildhaber will be 70 on 18 January 2007 and so must stand down on that date, under Article 23 В§ 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Court is composed of one judge in respect of each of the 46 States to have ratified the Convention. Judges work in five Sections - each with a Section President - from which Chambers of seven judges are constituted. The Court also sits as a Grand Chamber of 17 Judges, reports Trend.
Jean-Paul Costa was born in 1941 and studied in Paris at the Institute of Political Studies, the Law Faculty and the National School of Administration. From 1985 to 1986 he chaired the French delegation during the negotiations for the Treaty between France and the United Kingdom for the channel fixed link. From 1989 to 1993 he was Assessor of a Chamber in the Judicial Division of the Conseil d'Etat and from 1993 to 1998 he was the President of a Chamber. He was also Associate Law Professor at the Universities of OrlГ©ans and Paris I (PanthГ©on-Sorbonne). He has been a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 November 1998, Section President since 1 May 2000 and Vice-President since 1 November 2001.
Luzius Wildhaber was born in 1937. He studied law at Basle and Yale universities. In 1977 he was appointed Professor at Basle University. From 1992 to 1994 he was Rector of the University. From 1975 to 1988 he sat as a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Principality of Liechtenstein and from 1989 to 1994 as a judge of the Administrative Tribunal of the Inter-American Development Bank. He has been a judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 1991 and President of the Court since 1 November 1998.