Ayşe Işıl Karakaş, the first Turkish female judge at the ECHR, has passed away

Former European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Vice President and academic Prof. Dr. Işıl Ergüvenç Karakaş has passed away.

Karakaş, 66, had been receiving treatment for cancer for some time.

WHO IS AYŞE IŞIL KARAKAŞ?

Ayşe Işıl Karakaş or Ayşe Işıl Ergüvenç (born December 8, 1958, Istanbul – January 24, 2024) was a former judge at the European Court of Human Rights and an academic. Karakaş's academic work focused on human rights, individual liberties, and European law.

On January 22, 2008, she was elected by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as the first female judge to represent Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights.

She became the President of the Second Section of the ECHR starting January 1, 2015, and was appointed Vice President of the ECHR on November 1, 2015. With her role as President of the Second Section, she became the first Turkish judge to be elected to lead one of the five sections.

She stepped down from her roles as section president and vice president on April 30, 2017, as her primary term had expired, and she continued her duties as a judge until the new judge, Saadet Yüksel, took office in 2019.

Karakaş, who had been undergoing cancer treatment for some time, passed away from the disease on January 24, 2024, at the age of 66.

News Source: 12punto