President Michael D Higgins will meet new ECHR Chief Justice Síofra O’Leary during his visit to Strasbourg today
President Michael D Higgins will meet today in Strasbourg with Judge Síofra O’Leary, who will soon become the first woman to head the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
s O’Leary, who was elected to the prestigious post last month, will take up her new role on November 1.
The international jurisdiction, based in France, is the jurisdiction of the Council of Europe.
It interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and hears claims in which it is alleged that a state has violated one or more of the rights set out in the convention.
President Higgins will call for the European Convention on Human Rights to be “revoked, extended, strengthened and reaffirmed” in rebuilding peace across Europe in an address to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
He will say the Council must focus on the “indivisibility” of human rights and commit to a “broader definition” of security across Europe.
This would mean a human rights-based approach to security.
Mr. Higgins will also push for a long-term vision for the council after the end of the war in Ukraine and how the council could fit in internationally.
European citizens should be engaged with the Council just as much as they are with the United Nations, he will say in his speech.
He will also talk about the famine in the Horn of Africa and say that short-term humanitarian goals alone are not enough if issues such as debt, production and distribution of staple foods are not addressed. .
This will be President Higgins’ second time addressing the Council of Europe as president, having delivered a speech in February 2015.
This visit also comes at a time when Ireland currently holds the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which will end at the end of November.
Mr. Higgins was also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2001 to 2003.
During his visit to Strasbourg, he will also visit the ECHR and meet its current President Róbert Spano.
Mr Higgins will also meet the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Tiny Kox and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić.