Bulgaria's Ombudswoman and Professor of International and Humanitarian Law at UNWE Prof. Dr. Diana Kovacheva Is the New Bulgarian Judge at the European Court of Human Rights

On 24 January 2024 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe /PACE/ elected Prof. Dr. Diana Kovacheva, Ombudswoman of the Republic of Bulgaria and Lecturer in International Law and International Relations at the UNWE Law Faculty, International and EU Law Department, as Bulgarian judge at the European Court of Human Rights /ECHR/.

The judges of the European Court of Human Rights are elected by the PACE from three candidates nominated by each country that has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. The term of office of a judge of the European Court of Human Rights is nine years and must begin within three months of the election.

Prof. Diana Kovacheva won a majority with 115 out of 214 votes and 201 actual votes, ahead of the other Bulgarian candidates - Galya Valkova /73 votes/ and Dragomir Yordanov /13 votes/.

"Please accept my congratulations and the congratulations of the UNWE Rector`s Council on your election as Bulgarian judge at the European Court of Human Rights. We are honoured that in all the years in which you have respectfully represented our country as an expert in the Council of Europe, as Minister of Justice, as Executive Director of the Transparency International Association and as Ombudswoman of the Republic of Bulgaria you have never neglected, not even for a moment, your work as a lecturer in International and Humanitarian Law at the UNWE Law Faculty and lecturer in International Legal Framework for Nuclear Safety at the UNWE International Programme on Nuclear Security. We are confident that your exceptional expertise, rich academic and managerial experience will contribute to your successful work as a Bulgarian judge at the European Court of Human Rights", addressed greetings the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov.

The colleagues of the UNWE Law Faculty also congratulate Prof. Dr. Diana Kovacheva and point out that this election is an international recognition of her high professional and moral qualities. They hope that they will continue working together regardless of her new duties and that this will contribute even more to the education of students relying on the primary source on human rights issues.

Prof. Diana Kovacheva is presenting the monograph Legal Analysis of the Development of the International Protection of Human Rights by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irina Muleshkova at a discussion organized by the UNWE Law Faculty in 2023.