Court gets second President

René Cassin, the second President of the Court, was a key figure in the development of human rights law who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968 for his work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His contribution is recognised in numerous ways: through the work of the Jewish NGO RenéCassin; with the Basque Government’s René Cassin award which rewards human rights defenders annually, and through the Council of Europe’s own annual René Cassin competition, where legal professionals in training get to compete against each other at a mock court.

René Cassin died in 1976 and was honoured by his home country France with interment in the Panthéon in Paris. Strasbourg city has named the street that houses the Human Rights Court the Allée René Cassin.

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