On 1 June 2026, Astrid Puentes Riaño, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, visited the Court, where she was received by Vice-President and judge elected in respect of Norway, Arnfinn Bårdsen, and the Court’s Jurisconsult, Anna Austin. The Vice-President acknowledged the expert contribution made by the Special Rapporteur’s mandate to the Court’s judicial work through third-party interventions and public references to the Court’s case-law. The Jurisconsult discussed the Court's case-law on environmental matters and referred to the activity of the Knowledge Sharing Platform.

On 28 May 2026, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, received the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Gunn Marit Helgesen, to the Court. The Registrar, Marialena Tsirli, also attended the meeting. The two Presidents discussed strengthening cooperation between the two bodies, inter alia through the planning of a joint event which would give concrete examples of human rights related issues dealt with at the local level.

On 21 May 2026, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, accompanied by the judge elected in respect of Portugal, Ana Maria Guerra Martins, and the Deputy Registrar, Abel Campos, visited Lisbon to participate in a conference marking the 50th anniversary of Portugal’s signature of the European Convention on Human Rights. During the visit, President Guyomar also met with the President of the Portuguese Republic, António José Seguro.

During his address at the conference Portugal and the European Convention on Human Rights (1976–2026) – From Accession to Influence, organised by Portugal’s Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Justice, Attorney General’s Office and Bar Association, the President of the Court spoke about the interplay between the Portuguese constitutional order and the Convention system; the dialogue between judges and courts as a living expression of the principle of subsidiarity in the service of the protection of rights; judicial solidarity as a tool for mutual assistance and for safeguarding judicial independence; the weakening of the rule of law and the challenge to judicial authority; and the shared responsibility of defending the rule of law and ensuring the proper functioning of the judiciary in Europe.

The judge elected in respect of Portugal, Ana Maria Guerra Martins, also addressed the participants on the topic The national perspective at the European Court of Human Rights.

The President concluded his visit by giving interviews to Público and to SIC.

On 14 May, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, accompanied by the Deputy Registrar, Abel Campos, visited the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova, where they met with its President, Domnica Manole, as well as judges and legal staff. During the meeting, both the President of the Constitutional Court and the President of the European Court of Human Rights addressed the participants, highlighting the importance of judicial dialogue, the application of the European Convention on Human Rights in domestic law, and the principle of subsidiarity.

The visit took place the day before the 135th Session of the Committee of Ministers, held in Chişinău.

From 12-13 May 2026, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, together with the judge elected in respect of Romania, Sebastian Rădulețu, and the Deputy Registrar of the Court, Abel Campos, travelled to Bucharest, Romania, to meet with the President and the interim Prime Minister of Romania as well as with representatives of the highest Romanian judiciary.

The delegation was received by the President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, and also met with the interim Prime Minister, Ilie Bolojan, exchanging on the continued importance of the protection of human rights in the current geopolitical context.

An afternoon was spent at the Constitutional Court of Romania where the delegation was greeted by its President, Professor Elena-Simina Tănăsescu, and by all judges of the court. President Guyomar and Judge Rădulețu held a working meeting with judges on the theme of constitutional democracy and rule of law, and on Protocol No. 16 to the Convention, which allows the highest courts and tribunals of a State Party to ask the Court to give advisory opinions on questions of principle relating to the interpretation or application of the rights and freedoms defined in the Convention or protocols.

President Guyomar highlighted how, over the course of its 75-year history, the Convention had repeatedly demonstrated its ability to bring about positive and tangible change for millions of people across Europe. What made it particularly exceptional was the way in which, by safeguarding individual rights, it helped to ensure the proper functioning of European democracies in the face of contemporary challenges.

The following afternoon the delegation was received by the President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Lia Savonea, and held a working meeting with a large number of the court’s judges on the guarantees of judicial independence in the case-law of the European Court, and the application of the Convention in domestic law.

In their speeches, President Guyomar and Judge Rădulețu emphasised how, in applying the Convention, the Court fulfils its role as a watchdog and guardian of democracy and the rule of law, complementing and supporting national courts. A rich question and answer session followed, especially on the Court’s approach to requests for advisory opinions under Protocol No. 16.

The visit concluded with the President being interviewed by the State broadcaster TVR.

On 7 May 2026, the Executive Committee of the International Criminal Bar, led by its President Dragos Chilea, visited the Court and met with President Mattias Guyomar. The Registrar of the Court, Marialena Tsirli, also attended the meeting. The interlocutors discussed the ICB’s International Congress International Justice, Human Rights and Accountability: the role of international courts in the defence of peace to be held in July 2027, as well as the training of lawyers at the Court.

From 28 to 29 April 2026 the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, together with the judge elected in respect of Spain, María Elósegui, and the Registrar of the Court, Marialena Tsirli, travelled to Madrid, Spain, to meet with representatives of the Spanish judiciary and with His Majesty King Felipe VI.

On 28 April the delegation was received at the Supreme Court of Spain by its President, Isabel Perelló Doménech, and by other members of the Court.

After the reception, President Guyomar gave a lecture on “The Independence of the Judiciary, a Fundamental Principle of the Rule of Law”.

The President emphasised the importance of dialogue between the European Court of Human Rights and national courts. He also addressed criticisms of the Convention system and the inseparability of democracy and the rule of law.

On 29 April the delegation visited the Constitutional Court of Spain, where it was received by President Cándido Conde Pumpido Tourón and other judges.

Later that day, President Guyomar delivered a speech on “European Public Order and Constitutional Identities”. 

He stressed the role of constitutional courts in the Convention system and pointed out that the Court was very attentive to the constitutional identity of member States, relying on close dialogue with constitutional courts in that connection. 

On 29 April His Majesty King Felipe VI granted the President of the European Court of Human Rights, the President of the Constitutional Court of Spain, and the President of the Supreme Court of Spain a personal audience with him at Zarzuela Palace.

• Speech by President Mattias Guyomar (Constitutional Court of Spain) (in French only)

On 27 April, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, met with Vanessa Frazier, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the situation of children of Ukraine.

The President emphasised the Court’s judicial work in protecting the rights of the child, including in the context of armed conflict. He also presented the Court’s judicial work in protecting children’s rights in the context of the war in Ukraine.

The judge elected in respect of Slovenia, Vasilka Sancin, also attended the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the conference “Rebirth: Empowerment and Rehabilitation of Girls in Armed Conflicts” organised at the Court. In the afternoon, the President held a separate meeting with the Special Envoy of the Secretary General on the situation of children of Ukraine.

The judge elected in respect of Ukraine, Mykola Gnatovskyy, and the Jurisconsult, Anna Austin, also took part in the meeting.

From 13 to 16 April 2026, the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, travelled to Kyiv along with the judge elected in respect of Ukraine, Mykola Gnatovskyy, and Deputy Registrar Abel Campos, to take part in a conference entitled National Courts and the ECHR: respective roles, interaction, subsidiarity, organised by the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

This was President Guyomar’s first visit to Ukraine since his election as President of the Court. He emphasised that it was important for him to go to Ukraine to express solidarity and support for the Ukrainian judiciary operating in wartime, to strengthen judicial dialogue, and to draw attention to the Court’s role in holding Russia accountable for violations of human rights protected by the Convention.

Speaking from Kyiv, on 15 April 2026, President Guyomar highlighted that the European Court of Human Rights was the only international court to hold Russia responsible for numerous systematic human rights violations committed in Ukraine since 2014. He stressed that the Court’s effectiveness and the authority of its judicial decisions depended on the full respect for its judicial independence.

President Guyomar further emphasised the importance of the shared responsibility between the Strasbourg Court and national courts in applying the Convention. Emphasising the role of judges within the international legal order, he stated that “there can be no comprehensive, lasting and just peace without law, justice and human rights”.

The President also delivered a lecture at the Taras Shevchenko National University on the role of the Court in maintaining peace through law. He concluded his speech by saying “Law is words, and words matter. At the Court, in the judgments we deliver, words are our tools in the fight against arbitrariness, against wars, against bombs.” President Guyomar and Judge Gnatovskyy then jointly answered questions from students.

During the visit, the delegation held working meetings with Stanislav Kravchenko, the President of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, judges of the Courts of Cassation, as well as with Oleksandr Petryshyn, the acting President of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and the judges of that court. The delegation also met with General Kyrylo Budanov and Dr Iryna Mudra, the Head and Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Liudmyla Suhak, acting Minister of Justice; Oleksandr Karasevych, State Secretary in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; and Marharyta Sokorenko, the Agent of Ukraine before the European Court of Human Rights.

• Speech by President Mattias Guyomar (conference)
• Speech by President Mattias Guyomar (National University)
• Country profile: Ukraine