Irish lawyer in running for European human rights post
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Dr Michael O'Flaherty
Irish human rights lawyer Dr Michael O’Flaherty is among three candidates up for election today as the Council of Europe’s next human rights commissioner.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, with representatives from all 46 nations, will make its decision during its winter plenary session in Strasbourg this afternoon.
Dr O’Flaherty, who has led the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) since 2015 and previously served as chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), is up against Bulgarian nominee Meglena Kuneva and Austrian nominee Manfred Nowak.
An alumnus of University College Dublin, he was previously a professor of human rights law and director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway. He recently joined UCD Sutherland School of Law as an adjunct professor.
The result of the election is expected to be known by this evening unless no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote, in which case there will be a second round of voting tomorrow afternoon, in which the winner will be the candidate with the most votes.
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