Who are Euro court judges?
THE identity of the judge who blocked the first flight to Rwanda remained a mystery last night. Forty-seven judges, some of them from countries accused of human rights abuses, hear European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) cases. They include: Mikhail Lobov, Russia: Mr Lobov was briefly suspended from the bench in March after Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe. But it is understood he was later reinstated and can hear cases until September. Tim Eicke, United Kingdom: Mr Eicke studied law at Passau University in Germany in the 1980s before moving to the UK and being called to the bar in 1993. He took up his place on the Strasbourg bench in 2016. In an interview, he said his ideal dinner party guest would be Winston Churchill. Latif Huseynov, Azerbaijan: Baku has a judge on the ECHR despite the US State Department accusing Azerbaijan of unlawful or arbitrary killing, torture and the ‘worst forms of child labour’. He joined the bench in 2017. Stephanie Mourou-Vikstrom, Monaco: The tiny principality – known for its tax haven status – has a judge on the court despite only ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights in 2005. Miss Morou-Vikstrom studied for a law master’s in the UK.