After a first round election victory, Nils Muižnieks (Latvia) became the third Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Latvian gained 120 of the votes cast by the Parliamentary Assembly at its plenary session in Strasbourg, an absolute majority. Frans Timmermans (Netherlands) obtained 92 votes and Pierre-Yves Monette (Belgium) received 27 votes.

Muižnieks succeeds the Swede Thomas Hammarberg and was elected for a non-renewable term of six years starting on 1 April 2012.