OPEN CALL | For gender equality at the European Court of Human Rights.
Three new judges will soon be elected to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in respect of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain and Switzerland. Ahead of these elections, the GQUAL Campaign, together with partner organizations and experts, has submitted a letter to the Committee on the Election of Judges and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calling for the Court’s longstanding gender imbalance to be taken into account.
Women currently hold only 16 of the Court’s 45 seats — 35.5%. The imbalance is also historical: since the Court was established in 1959, only 54 of 229 judicial terms — approximately 24% — have been held by women.
The figures also show that progress at the nomination stage does not always translate into equal representation in the final composition of the Court. Between 2015 and 2025, women represented 45% of the 177 candidates, but only 36% of the judges elected. During that period, 26% of women candidates were elected, compared with 39% of men.
The forthcoming elections therefore represent a concrete opportunity for progress. If women are elected to all three seats, women’s representation on the Court would rise to 40% — the threshold used by PACE to determine under-representation.
GQUAL and the signatories call on PACE and its Committee on the Election of Judges to take into account the Court’s current and historical gender imbalance; give meaningful weight to gender equality alongside the required professional qualifications and experience; and ensure that progress in national nominations translates into progress in the Court’s final composition.
The letter is supported by civil society organizations and experts working across human rights, gender equality and international justice, including the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), European Women’s Lobby, FIBGAR, Fondazione Brodolini, Diakonia, Irídia, International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), Red Jurídica, REDRESS, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, Women’s Link Worldwide, OMCT, Professor Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen and Professor Ruth Marín Rubio.
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