SOROS JUDGES

By: ECLJ

Photo: www.lesalonbeige.fr

This week, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) debated and adopted a resolution and a recommendation to improve the procedure for electing judges and prevent their politicization.

This public debate is, in itself, a success and a recognition of our efforts to raise awareness about the lack of independence and existing conflicts of interest at the ECHR. Several members of the Assembly explicitly cited our work during the debates.

The resolution therefore calls for greater transparency in the national selection procedure of judges. It also states that candidates must “possess the relevant professional experience and independence to exercise such a high judicial function on an international court.”(§8)

However, the resolution and recommendation primarily add requirements for States but still do not require candidates to publish a declaration of interests or to have experience on the bench.

This is an institution that responds to problems with more regulation: commissions, panels, reports, experts, standards… It is doubtful that the outcome of these adopted texts will live up to the challenge at hand, namely the independence and credibility of an international court.

Another notable development at the Council of Europe Assembly this week: the fight against discrimination based on religion.

For several years now, the ECLJ has been working toward institutional recognition of anti-Christian hatred. For even though Christians are in the majority in Europe, they too face discrimination and are subjected to attacks on their persons and property because of their Christian faith.

Slowly but surely, the PACE is taking this into account. The latest resolution adopted this week acknowledges that “intolerance and discrimination on grounds of religion or belief affect both majority and minority religious groups in Europe.”(§10)

This wording deserves to be highlighted. It introduces an implicit recognition of the abuses suffered by Christians, including in societies where they remain numerically in the majority.

We can’t stop here. That is why we formally submitted this week the petition that many of you have signed: Christianophobia: Enough is Enough!

It was submitted to the Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in accordance with its rules of procedure, to give voice to Christians who are attacked and discriminated against in Europe and to secure an institutional response. Now, the Bureau of this Assembly will have to officially rule on this petition and forward it to the relevant committee.

Finally, regarding the deportation of foreign offenders, the Council of Europe is forced to act under pressure from Member States.

For several years, the ECLJ has denounced the drift in the case law of the ECHR regarding deportations. We have observed this throughout the cases in which we have intervened. The ECHR has gradually prevented States from permanently deporting foreign offenders and criminals. Nicolas Bauer recently wrote a detailed paper demonstrating this (in French only): The Expulsion of Foreign Offenders and Criminals in Light of European Case Law.

Thanks to this monitoring and advocacy work, more than 10 States have written to the Council of Europe and demanded that the European Court be called to order.

Thus, on May 14 and 15, 2026, during the next meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Chișinău, Romania, the States are expected to adopt a declaration reaffirming their sovereignty regarding expulsions.

This week, the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights has already publicly taken a stand against this firm declaration by European States.

This is a sign of resistance from the institution that must keep States vigilant and, above all, demanding. Otherwise, in a few years, the Court and the Council of Europe will continue to increasingly protect foreign offenders, in defiance of the common good and public peace that States are bound to guarantee.