Irish professor Michael O’Flaherty elected to European human rights role

Irish professor Michael O’Flaherty has been elected as the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent and impartial non-judicial institution established in 1999 by the Council of Europe to promote awareness of and respect for human rights across the council’s 46 member states.

Speaking after the announcement of the vote, Irish foreign affairs minister Michael Martin said: “I want to congratulate Michael O’Flaherty on his election as Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe.

“Professor O’Flaherty has served with great distinction in several high-level positions in the field of human rights and his election as commissioner is a mark of the high regard in which he is held.

“His extensive human rights expertise, strong record of leadership and demonstrated courage, integrity and resilience are qualities that will benefit him as he takes up his new role.

“The office of commissioner is central to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Never have these ideals and principles been more important.”

The commissioner is elected by secret ballot by members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a six-year non-renewable term.

A shortlist of three candidates was prepared by the council’s Committee of Ministers’ Deputies in November 2023 and also featured Bulgarian nominee Meglena Kuneva and Austrian nominee Manfred Nowak.

Prof O’Flaherty led the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) from 2015 until December 2023.

Previously, he spent 18 years working with the UN, setting up human rights field operations in conflict-affected conflicts such as Sierra Leone and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as serving as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee.

At the national level, Prof O’Flaherty led the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, an institution set up under the Good Friday Agreement.

He has also held two professorships of human rights at the universities of Galway and Nottingham.

Prof O’Flaherty takes up the position of commissioner on April 1 2024.