Barbara Wegelin. Foto: Adrienne Norman - Everaert Advocaten Immigration Lawyers Barbara Wegelin
Barbara Wegelin is a lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. There, she handles complaints from citizens and organisations, often following legal proceedings in the Netherlands, about alleged violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. These complaints can cover a wide range of topics, from freedom of expression and demonstrations to the removal of children from their homes and the right to a fair trial. She is also a member of the Meijers Committee (an independent group of experts that advises on European criminal, asylum, migration, privacy, non-discrimination and institutional law).
Before joining the Court in Strasbourg in 2023, Barbara worked as a solicitor in the Netherlands for 15 years. She specialised in Dutch and European immigration law, as well as international family law. She was also a member of the immigration law committee of the International Bar Association and of the same advisory committee at the Dutch Bar Association. As a solicitor, she published the booklet “Ongehoord” (Unheard) for the Association of Asylum Solicitors and Lawyers and the Specialist Association of Migration Law Solicitors, in which she drew parallels between the approach taken in the benefits affair and Dutch immigration law. As a lawyer, Barbara is regularly published in (legal) journals and appeared in the media to comment on current issues. As a lecturer, she has experience teaching fellow lawyers and regularly speaks at various national and international conferences.
Prior to her career as a lawyer, Barbara worked for the Australian Human Rights Commission and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. She also worked for six months at the Dutch Council for Refugees as a strategic advisor on EU asylum law.