Philip Dimitrov is member of the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria since 2015 and member of the Venice Commission for Democracy through Law since 2016. Since December, 2019 Mr. Dimitrov is also a Vice-President of the Venice Commission.

Before that he was Ambassador of the EU to Georgia (2010-2014) and earlier - Ambassador of Bulgaria to the UN (1997-1998) and to the US (1998-2002), Deputy Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament (2005-2008) Member of the European Parliament (2007) and of the Bulgarian Parliament (1993-1997).

He has a JD from the Sofia University, practiced as an Attorney-at Law for almost 20 years and holds PhD in Political Science from the NBU-Sofia. He is distinguished professor (reader) at the NBU-Bulgaria and lectured in the American University of Bulgaria (2002-2008), at the University of Toronto (2007), at the CNU in Virginia (2008-2009).

He was the first freely elected Prime Minister of Bulgaria (1991-1992).

Education

12.03.2010 PhD in Political Science from NBU – Sofia, Bulgaria
03-09.2003 Public policy scholar at Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC
1978-1979 State Internship in Law at the Sofia District Court and JD
1973-1977 University of Sofia Law School
1969-1973 Sofia English Language School

Professional experience

Member of the Venice Commission since 2016, Vice-President since 2019
Constitutional Courts judge from 11.11.2015
Attorney at law: 1979-1990; 1993-1997; 2002-2005; 2010; 2015

Academic experience

2010 & 2002-2008 – Adj. Professor at the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG)
Aug. 2008 – Dec. 2009 - Visiting professor at Christopher Newport University – VA, USA
Oct. 2007 - A course of 12 Lectures on "Practical Problems of Political Representation", University of Toronto

Parliamentary mandates

2005-2008 - Deputy Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament. Member of the Juridical Matters Committee and European Affairs Committee
2007 - Member of European Parliament, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs
1995-1997 - Vice Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU – Bulgaria
1993-1997 - Member of the Bulgarian Parliament

Diplomatic experience

Nov.2010 – Aug.2014 - Ambassador, Head of EU Delegation in Tbilisi, Georgia
2004: - Special Envoy of the President of the OSCE for Armenia and Azerbaijan
1998-2002 - Ambassador of Bulgaria to the US
1997-1998 - Permanent Representative of Bulgaria at the UN

Others:

1991-1992 Prime Minister of the first freely elected government of Bulgaria after WWII

Activities in human rights protection

Memberships

2003-2010 - Member of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba
2008–2010 - Spokesperson of the Committee for Solidarity with the Politically Persecuted in Venezuela
1989-1991 - Committee for protection of religion rights, freedom of thought and faiths, values

Programs (selected)

2006 - 2007 – Leading member Internship Program for Young Roma in Parliament - Open Society Institute (Bulgaria) and National Democratic Institute (US)
2003 - 2007 - Youth in Politics - Joint project of National Endowment for Democracy (US) and Bulgarian Institute for Legal Development

Public activities

2004 - Senior member of the NED (US)-CLS (Bulgaria) team for Democratic Experience Exchange with the New Government of Georgia
2002-2010 - Honorary Chairman of the Board of George Marshall Association – Bulgaria
2003-present - Member of the Club de Madrid of Former Heads of State and Government and Member of the Executive Committee (2006-2007)
2004-2010 - Member of the Advisory Board of the US-Moldova Foundation
2003-2010 - Member of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba
2002-2007 - Program Director at Bulgarian Institute for Legal Development
1989-1990 - Secretary of the Bulgarian Bar Union

Conferences (selected)

February 11-12 2009 - Democracy and Democratization: America and the World – organized by CNU-CASCL - Eastern Europe and South America Panel
November 20-21st 2008 – A New Departure: Global Challenges and EU-US Policies After the American Elections - Georgia Panel – Washington D.C. organized by the EU Institute for Security Studies
April 2008 – “Are Revolutions Contagious” Weidenfeld Speaker Series at European Studies Centre, St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University
October 2007 - Freedom and Responsibility - Prague - Forum 2000
2003-2005 - Civic Constitutional Convention - Sofia - Open Society Institute
September 2004 - Feefteen Years after the Fall of the Wall – Prague – People in Need foundation

Public lectures in US universities

11. 2009 - "Faith and the Changes in Eastern Europe" - Washington University - Chestertown
10. 2009 - "First Steps of the Post-Communist Transition: Logic and Myths "- Miami University - Cincinnati
10.2008 - "Populism Today' - Cornell University – Ithaca
11.2008 - "Two Decades after the Wall" – New School – New York

Publications

Political

Political Representation After Communism (CIELA Sofia 2010)
The New Democracies and the Transatlantic Link (CIELA Sofia 2004)
The Myths of Bulgarian Transition. (CIELA Sofia 2003)

Novels

Light of man (2003)
For they lived, Oh Lord (1991)
Others (selected)
- The Western Values After the Fall of the Wall –Annual Eugene Schuyler Series 2015
- „The Transitions in Eastern Europe and the US” Democracy and Democratization: America and the World, Ed.Busch Nathan 2010
- Does the “Populism” in the New Democracies of Europe Really Matter? in Democratizatziya (Washington DC) December 2009
- Foreign policy (Bulgarian edition), June-July 2008
- Parliament in action, Reazom, Sofia, 2007
- Electoral systems. Parties: doctrines and structure, Reazom, Sofia, 2007
- On tolerance and faith in Freedom for all (e-journal), Sofia, March 2004

Awards

2014 – Doctor Honoris Causae of the University of Georgia
2008 – Token of Honour from the Bar Association in Venezuela for contributions to the defense of Human rights of political prisoners
1999 – The Truman-Reagan Freedom Award for contributions to overcoming Communism
2007 – Honorary sign of the Sofia Bar Council for contributions to the Sofia Bar college

Venice Commission

Council of Europe

Philip Dimitrov