Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger

Ms Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger was born in 1957 in Vienna (Austria) and obtained a law degree in 1980, which she supplemented with studies in international law at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 1981.

Ms Tichy-Fisslberger began her professional career at the European Commission in 1982 as a conference interpreter, a position she held until 1988. Simultaneously, she continued her linguistic studies at the Universität Wien (University of Vienna, Austria) and obtained a degree in language studies in 1984.

In 1988, she joined the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Directorate General for European and Economic Affairs as a Counsellor, a position she held until 1993.

In 1990, she was seconded to the Austrian Embassy in Dublin. From mid-1991 to mid-1992, she was Deputy Director for EU Transport Policy within the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna. She was then seconded to the Austrian Embassy in London.

From 1993 to 2000, she was Minister-Counsellor at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels.

On return to the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms Tichy-Fisslberger was called upon to act as Director of General Affairs of the EU and EU Institutions between 2000 and 2003. Thereafter, she was appointed Deputy Director-General for European and Economic Affairs and, from 2007, Director-General for Legal and Consular Affairs. Furthermore, she also acted as National Coordinator on Combatting Human Trafficking between 2009 and 2017.

Since December 2017, she has been Ambassador at the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Office and to other international organisations at Geneva. In 2020, she was elected President of the United Nations Human Rights Council and in 2021, Chairperson of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

In parallel with those activities, Ms Tichy-Fisslberger has taught law at the Diplomatische Akademie Wien (Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria) since 2002. Between 2006 and 2017, she also taught law at the University of Vienna.

Ms Tichy-Fisslberger was appointed as a Judge at the General Court on 15 September 2022.