The European Court of Human Rights elected Icelander Róbert Ragnar Spano as its new President yesterday. He will take office on May 18, 2020, succeeding Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, from Greece. At 47, Róbert is the youngest president in the 61-year history of the European Court of Human Rights.
Róbert was born in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1972, and studied law at the University of Iceland before completing a Magister Juris degree in European and Comparative Law at the University of Oxford. Róbert served as a legal advisor and deputy to the Parliamentary Ombudsman in Iceland and taught at the University of Iceland’s Faculty of Law, where he served as Dean from 2010-2013.
Róbert has been a judge of the European Court of Human Rights since November 2013 and Vice President of the Court since May 5, 2019. He speaks five languages: Icelandic, English, Italian, French, and Danish.
