On 30 June 2026, the Court hosted a meeting of judges with representatives with United Nations human rights treaty bodies. The meeting, organised with the support of the René Cassin Foundation and the French National Institute of Public Service (INSP), followed a symposium organised on the previous day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of former Court President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, René Cassin.

During the meeting, the Court’s judges and the chairs and representatives of the UN Treaty Bodies exchanged views on various human rights issues and respective jurisprudential developments. The forward-looking discussions focused on identifying avenues for closer engagement and the use of jurisprudence, recommendations, and expertise, for a more coherent and effective human rights protection.

Noting that the United Nations is a key partner of the Court, President Mattias Guyomar said that the meeting was an opportunity to nourish dialogue and emphasised that the Court often referred to the case law of the UN Treaty Bodies in its judgments.

Changrok Soh, Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee and Chair of the 38^th Meeting of Chairs of the UN Treaty Bodies, also addressed the participants online. His intervention was followed by a working session chaired by the Vice President of the Court and judge elected in respect of Montenegro, Ivana Jelić, on issues relating to the functioning, challenges, and cooperation between institutions. The session featured contributions from Vasilka Sancin, judge elected in respect of Slovenia, and Hélène Tigroudja, Vice Chair of the Human Rights Committee, whose interventions centred on coordination and cooperation between the UN Treaty Bodies and the Court, as well as practical proposals for future action.

The second working session, chaired by Anja Seibert Fohr, judge elected in respect of Germany, focused on the topic of non discrimination in times of disruption and uncertainty. Mykola Gnatovskyy, judge elected in respect of Ukraine, and Tina Stavrinaki, member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Chair of the Working Group on Individual Complaints, spoke about how the non discrimination standards set out by the UN and those developed by the Court in its case law under the Convention apply to today’s realities, including in the context of emerging technologies, climate change, and armed conflict.

Emmanuel Decaux, President of the René Cassin Foundation, delivered the closing remarks, highlighting the Foundation’s commitment to human rights protection in line with René Cassin’s legacy: fostering dialogue between institutions, bringing protection systems closer together, and working towards ever more effective guarantees of fundamental rights.