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European Court of Human Rights president Síofra O’Leary: ‘Courts can’t respond to political criticism’

The president of the European Court of Human Rights has presided over some of the most historic cases of our time

Ms Justice Síofra O’Leary, president of the European Court of Human Rights. Each state within the 46-member Council of Europe, O’Leary says, ‘has its own character, its own difficulties’

Sitting in front of a blue banner branded with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) logo, Síofra O’Leary, the Dublin native and one of Ireland’s most successful judges, contemplates the difficult decisions her life’s work entails and the criticism that sometimes accompanies those judgments.

“Of course there are judgments or decisions which can be criticised, but equally, those judgments and decisions can be defended,” she says, noting that judges cannot respond to political criticism.