Education and work experience

Thomas was educated at St. Mary’s Diocesan School in Drogheda. He holds an LL.B. Law degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He qualified as a Solicitor in 2001. Thomas completed his apprenticeship with McCann FitzGerald Solicitors in Dublin. After qualifying, he worked in the EU and Competition Law Department in the firm. In 2003, Thomas returned to practice closer to home in Feran & Co. Solicitors until his election to Dáil Éireann in 2007. Thomas also admitted to the New York State Bar.
 

Political Career

Thomas was first elected to Dáil Éireann to represent Meath East in 2007. From 2007 to 2011 he was a member of the Oireachtas Committees on Justice, Equality and Defence, Social Protection and on Finance and the Public Service. ... read more

Frances Fitzgerald is an Irish MEP from Dublin. A parliamentarian for over 20 years, she served as Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) from 2016-17, one of only four women to have ever held this position. She has also served as Minister for Business, Enterprise & Innovation (2017); Minister for Justice & Equality (2014-17) and was the State’s first Minister for Children & Youth Affairs (2011-14). Prior to her election to the Dáil (Irish Parliament), Frances served as Chair of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (1988-92) and Vice President of the European Women’s Lobby.
 

Frances was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. She is a full member of the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM) and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) and a substitute member of the Development Committee (DEVE) and the Committee on the Use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA). Frances was elected Vice Chair of the EPP Group in March 2021, and EPP Coordinator of the FEMM Committee in July 2019.

Matteo Mecacci (Italy) has been Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) since December 2020.
 

Prior to that he spent 7 years as President of the International Campaign for Tibet. He headed the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission to Georgia in 2013 and was a Member of the Italian Parliament, Foreign Affairs Committee and of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from 2008– 2013. From 2000 to 2008 he was Representative to the United Nations in New York of “No Peace Without Justice” and the “Transnational Radical Party”. He holds a JD in International Law from the University of Florence.​

With 15 years of experience in promoting democratic standards, supporting democratic institutions and political reforms in more than 50 countries, Mr. Leone maintains an extensive knowledge of international standards and different legislative frameworks, successfully providing assistance to political reform processes in the area of fundamental freedoms, human rights, and political participation. Currently working as Special Adviser to ODIHR’s Director, he provides political support regarding developments in the OSCE region and policy advice on the basis of relevant OSCE Decisions. He often represents ODIHR in exchanges with OSCE structures, OSCE Field Operations, as well as main International Organization partners, including Council of Europe, European Union, and the United Nations. He contributes to develop and maintain extensive network and close relations with Permanent Missions to the OSCE and senior management throughout the OSCE’s Executive Structures. Diplomatic sensitivity and strategic thinking further support his work, interacting with high-level national and international officials, coupled with strong managerial skills and project management abilities.
 

With a professional career with intergovernmental organizations, Mr. Leone displays solid interpersonal skills, consistently mainstreaming gender equality and sensitivity in all his work. Before joining ODIHR, he worked among others for the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, NATO, the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and the European Parliament. Mr. Leone holds an MSc in International and European Politics from the University of Edinburgh.

Mr. Konstantine Vardzelashvili is the Head of the Democratization Department of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which supports the OSCE participating States, among other, to develop rule of law based democratic institutions, respecting principles of transparency, accountability and equality, assists in achieving compliance of states’ legislation and policies with the OSCE’s Human Dimension commitments and international standards.
 

Mr. Vardzelashvili has over 20 years of experience of working in the fields of good governance, rule of law and public integrity, constitutional and international human rights law.
 

He joined ODIHR in 2018. Previously, he served as a substitute member of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (2007-2014) and a Vice Chair and a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (2012-2016). Furthermore, he served as the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of Georgia (2006-2016) and as Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia (2004-2006). He is also a Professor of the School of Law of Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia).

Anne-Lise Chatelain is an international lawyer specialized in the field of human rights, with more than 15 years of experience. After having completed her law studies in the United Kingdom, France and the United States, she passed the French bar exam and practiced law as an international lawyer in France, India and Vietnam. From 2010 to 2013, she then worked as an analyst for the United Nations in Laos in charge of rule of law and civil society support programmes. Since 2013, Ms. Chatelain has been working for ODIHR Legislative Support Unit, preparing legal opinions on draft and existing legislation, including those impacting civic space, analyzing their compliance with international standards and commitments relating to human rights. She facilitated the development of the 2015 Vienna Recommendations on Enhancing the Participation of Associations in Public Decision-Making Processes.

Dr Marta ACHLER collaborates as an expert with the Centre for Judicial Cooperation. She previously served as Deputy Head of the Democratization Department of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). She defended her PhD at the EUI in the field of human rights of assembly and association and new technologies.  

Marta has been practicing as a lawyer in the field of international law and international human rights law for over 20 years. She also worked in the private law field, prior to taking on her assignments with ODIHR, where she held the post of Chief of the Legislative Support Unit in the Democratization Department representing the organization at United Nations and Council of Europe bodies (permanent representative to the Venice Commission) and subsequently became Deputy Head of Democratization. ... read more

Education

• 1993 - 1994 College of Europe, Bruges (Belgium) and Warsaw (Poland), Post-graduate study - Master in European Studies
• 1980 - 1985 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics, Zagreb, Croatia Bachelor of Science Degree 

Work Experience

• June 2017 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
• May - November 2018 Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
• November 2016 - June 2017 State Secretary, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
• 2013 - 2016 European Policy Expert - Independent consultancy (work on EU, UNDP and bilaterally funded projects in the candidate and potential candidate countries, as well as in European Neighbourhood countries)
• 2008 - 2011 Deputy in the Croatian Parliament (HDZ): Chairperson - Delegation of the Croatia - EU Joint Parliamentary Committee; Head of the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly; Member of the European Integration Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the National Committee for the Follow-up of Negotiations; Member or alternate member of the Croatian Parliament delegations to Parliamentary Assemblies (PA) of: the Council of Europe, the Western European Union, the Parliamentary Mediterranean Union; Member of the Parliamentary Public Relations Committee, PA Western European Union; ... read more

Political experience

• Since 1975, member of the Socialist Party (SP) of the Netherlands
• 1981, member of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party
• 1982-1999, head of the Socialist Party group on Tilburg Municipal Council
• 1993-2003, General Secretary of the Socialist Party
• Since 2003, leader of the Socialist Party in the Dutch Senate
• 2003-2010, member of the Dutch delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
• Since 2003, member of the Dutch delegation to PACE
• 2007-2022, chairperson of the Unified European Left (UEL) group in PACE
• 2010, chairperson of the PACE ad hoc committee to observe the parliamentary elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 2011-2012, Vice-President of PACE ... read more

Dunja Mijatović was elected Commissioner for Human Rights on 25 January 2018 by the Parliamentary Assembly and took up her position on 1 April 2018. She is the fourth Commissioner, succeeding Nils Muižnieks (2012-2018), Thomas Hammarberg (2006-2012) and Alvaro Gil-Robles (1999-2006).
 

National of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she has been working to promote and protect human rights for the past two decades, thus acquiring extensive knowledge in the field of international monitoring, in particular as regards freedom of expression.
 

Prior to her appointment as Commissioner for Human Rights, she has served as OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2010-2017), Director of Broadcast of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001-2010), Chair of the European Platform of Regulatory Agencies (2007–2010) ...  read more

Parliamentary career

• Member of Althingi for the Southwest Constituency 2016–2017, for the Reykjavík South Constituency 2017–2021 and for the Southwest Constituency since 2021 (Pirate Party).

Party group

• Deputy Chair of the Pirate Party's parliamentary group 2019–2021 and 2017.

• Chair of the Pirate Party's parliamentary group 2017–2019.

Present committees

• Member of the Economic Affairs and Trade Committee since 2021 (2nd Deputy Chair since 2021).

• Member of the Icelandic delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly since 2021 (Deputy Chair since 2021). ... read more

• Master of Laws (LL.M.), Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, 1997-1998
• Senior Attorney, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Tirana, 1998-2000
• Adjunct lecturer of constitutional law, University of Tirana, 1998 – 2000
• Master of Laws (LL.M.), New York University Law School, United States of America, 2000-2001
• Researcher on human rights situation in Southeast Europe, Human Rights Watch, 2001-2003
• Senior Attorney, practice of international human rights law before major international courts and mechanisms, Open Society Justice Initiative, 2003-2015
• Member of the drafting group of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, 2006-2008
• Member of the drafting group of the Right to Information Model Law for the Organisation of American States, 2010
• Lead drafter of the Albanian defamation law reforms (Criminal Code and Civil Code), 2012
• Advisor, Special Parliamentary Committee on Justice Reform, Parliament of Albania, 2015-2016
• Expert on human rights law and policy for the Council of Europe and other international organisations, Tirana, 2017-2018
• Senior expert for a European Union project on the consolidation of the Justice System in Albania, 2018
• Member of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on Quality Journalism in the Digital Age (MSI-JOQ), 2018
• Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 7 January 2019.

Barrister, Monckton Chambers, London specialising in human rights cases before the European Court of Human Rights (e.g., Nada v. Switzerland, ECtHR [GC], no. 19593/08, judgment, 12 September 2012; Proceedings under Article 46 § 4 of the Convention in the Case of ilgar Mammadov v. Azerbaijan [GC], no. 15172/13, 29 May 2019; and Slovenia v. Croatia [GC], ECHR, no. 54155/16, admissibility decision, 18 November 2020) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee (e.g., Saxena v. Canada, UNHRC, no. 2118/2011, Views of 3 November 2016]. In addition, he acts as an expert on human rights law for the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNDP. He is President of the Expert Council on NGO Law of the Council of Europe's Conference on INGOs. He was a member of the European Union network of experts on fundamental rights (2002- 2006), a former Member (2008-2013) and Chair (2010-2013) of the Scientific Committee of the European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency, Reader in International Human Rights Law, University of Birmingham (1978-2006), a Visiting Professor, Central European University and co-founder and Chair of INTERIGHTS (the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights).

Education
 

• Graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies
• Law degree
• Language degree in Russian
• Former student of the National School of Administration (1978/1980)

Career 
 

• Member of the Constitutional Council of France (2010_2022)

At the Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs:
• 1972/1976: French Embassy in Moscow (USSR), commercial service
• 1976/1977: Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs, Department of External Economic Relations

At the Court of Financial Auditors:
• 1980 - 2010: Court of Financial Auditors (appointed auditor in 1980, practiced there until 1985, then again from 1990 to 1994 and finally from 1998 to 2010); appointed president of the chamber in 2006.

 ... read more

Studies

• Candidate of Law 1970
• Licentiate of Law 1973
• Doctor of Law 1983 at Helsinki University

Carreer

• Asso­ciate professor of Financial Law at Helsinki University (1984-1986), research professor at the Academy of Finland (1986-1992), professor of Administrative Law at Helsinki University (1992-2003), professor of Jurisprudence at Helsinki University (2003-2015). Director of the Centre of Excellence Foundations of European Law and Polity (2008-2013); Academy Professor (2010-2015).
   
• Expert at the Constitutional Law Committee of the Parliament; member of several governmental committees for drafting constitutional amendments and reforms, including the committee which drafted the new constitution of 2000; extraordinary member of Supreme Administrative Court 1995. ... read more

Richard Barrett is an Irish barrister and government lawyer, educated at the National University of Ireland, the London School of Economics and Kings Inns Dublin. He was in practice as a barrister for 10 years before joining the Irish Attorney General’s Office as a legal adviser principally in the areas of justice, human rights and electoral matters. In that role he has participated in reviewing the court structure, police powers and security powers in the light of the Northern Ireland Peace agreement. He was later Deputy Head of that Office until 2019.

From 2000 to 2002 he was the Head of Public Law at the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina advising on the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords. During this period he advised on the talks aimed at resolving the succession to the assets of the former Yugoslavia. ... read more

Education 

• 2001 Law Faculty of the Charles University in Prague
• 2003 Philosophical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague (French and Political Science/International relations)
• 2004 European Master (E.MA) in Human Rights and Democratisation
• 2004 Doctor´s Degree (PhDr.) in Political Science and International Relations (Charles University, Prague)
• 2006 Ph.D. Degree in International Law (Charles University, Prague)
• 2007 Doctor´s Degree (JUDr.) in Law (Charles University, Prague)
• 2012 Diploma in International Law (University of Cambridge)
• 2014 Assistant Professor (Doc.) in International Law (Charles University, Prague)

Professional life 

• 2001 Czech Ministry of Defence (department of international law)                             
• 2005 Internship at the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva (Counter-Terrorism Branch, Regional Focus: Europe, Russia, CIS)
• Since 2001 Research fellow at the Institute of International Relations, Prague  (currently Head of the IIR Centre for International Law) ... read more

Simona Granata-Menghini is the Director/Secretary of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) as of 1 February 2021. She was previously Deputy Secretary since 2010.
 

Simona started her career at the Council of Europe in 1994 as case-lawyer at the European Commission on Human Rights, Council of Europe. From 1997 to 1999 she was Senior Deputy Human Rights Ombudsperson in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1999 to 2000 she was case lawyer at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights. She joined the Venice Commission in 2001, as Head of the Constitutional Cooperation Division.
 

Countries on which she has worked include Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Georgia, Egypt, Hungary, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Poland, Russian Federation, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela. Topics include constitutional and legislative reforms relating to separation of powers, rule of law, independence of the judiciary, judicial ethical codes, protection of minorities, freedom of expression, assembly, 

... read more 

Michael O’Flaherty is Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights since 2015. He is a former Professor of Human Rights at the University of Nottingham and the National University of Ireland, Galway. From 2004 to 2012 he was a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, latterly as Vice-Chair. O’Flaherty has held a variety of other positions at the United Nations, both at headquarters and in the field, in which connection he witnessed, reported on, and sought to mitigate human rights abuses in such places as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sierra Leone. He has also served as Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, as Chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, and as Vice-Chair of the Universal Rights Group. A solicitor of the Irish Courts, O’Flaherty received the Higher Doctorate of Laws from the National University of Ireland and also holds degrees in international relations, philosophy, and theology.

Luigi Malferrari is a member of the Legal Service (business law team) of the European Commission in Brussels, working inter alia in the fields of regulatory telecoms, digital advertising, cybersecurity, data services, media, company and insolvency law. Luigi obtained his law degree (laurea) at the University of Bologna, an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg (MaxPlanck-Institute for international law). Luigi was admitted to the Italian bar and did a stint at the law firm Lovells (currently Hogan Lovells). Luigi's previous experience includes several years as a clerk ("référendaire") at the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg and 2 years as legal officer at Directorate-General for Internal Market of the European Commission. Today Luigi is also a lecturer at SciencesPo in Strasbourg and at the LL.M. program at the University of Saarland; he is a member of the advisory board of the European Journal of Business Law (EuZW) in Germany.

Clément Nyaletsossi VOULE, a national of Togo, was appointed as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association and took up his functions in April 2018.

Prior to his appointment, he led the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) to support human rights defenders from States in transition and coordinated the organization's work in Africa as the Advocacy Director.
 

Mr. Voule also worked as Secretary-General of the Togolese Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, as a campaigner for the Togolese Coalition for the International Criminal Court and as Secretary-General of the Amnesty International section in Togo.
 

Since 2011, he has been an Expert Member of the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Environment and Human Rights Violations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. ... read more

Ashish Kumar is a member of the Secretariat of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard-setter for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation. He joined the FATF Secretariat in 2015, and is currently working as Team Lead to support the Policy Development Group of the FATF. His recent areas of work include developing and coordinating policy responses on issues such as addressing de-risking, information sharing, cross-border payments, beneficial ownership, risk-based approach guidance and proliferation financing. Ashish is also responsible for leading mutual evaluations of several FATF member countries.

Prior to joining the FATF Secretariat, Ashish was Division Chief with the Indian financial supervisory authority.

Rana has more than twenty years of experience in business and non-profit sectors. She currently serves as the Secretary General of the Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TUSEV). Prior to TUSEV, Rana was the Director of Programs and International Relations at the Sabanci Foundation. I her earlier career, Rana worked in financial institutions and conglomerates, including Arthur Andersen, Global Securities, EFG Istanbul Securities and Sabancı Holding. Rana is the Chair of the Nomination and Governance Committee of Philanthropy Europe Association (Philea) and a board member of Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN). She served as Governing Council member of the European Foundation Center (EFC) from 2013 to 2017 and as National Advisory Group member of EU Technical Assistance to Civil Society Organizations (TACSO) from 2014 to 2017. She is a regular contributor to Alliance Magazine. She earned a BS in Business Administration from Bosphorus University and an MBA from Yale School of Management.

Natallia is a human rights defender from Belarus, working in HRC Viasna. 

Viasna is the leading organisation in Belarus, founded in 1996, with the largest network of offices and volunteers countrywide. 
 

Since 2021 - Natallia has been a member of the Interim Board of the organisation.
Natallia has been involved in human rights work in Belarus since 2015, working with political and civil rights. 
 

Specialization and special passion - freedom of peaceful assembly. Natallia monitors the observance of freedom of assembly in Belarus, both at the level of the law and in practice. Until 2020, face-to-face observation was traditionally carried out in the field, during the most significant peaceful assemblies. The work on monitoring the freedom of assembly continues today. 

After the elections in August 2020, special attention of Natallia - work with victims of human rights violations and especially she supports political prisoners and their families.
In 2021, she left Belarus due to criminal prosecution and cannot return to her homeland. 
 

Seven colleagues from Viasna are now in prison for their work in defense and advocacy of human rights in Belarus.

Małgorzata Szuleka is the secretary of the board of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Warsaw, Poland), one of the Europe's leading human rights NGOs.

Since 2009, M. Szuleka has been one of the leading HFHR's lawyers and researchers, often partnering with, among others, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights on major research projects concerning among other access to justice, rule of law and civic space as well as criminal justice. Since 2021, M. Szuleka is member of HFHR board supervising the works of research, monitoring, and advocacy teams. 
 

M. Szuleka has been also documenting the rule of law crisis in Poland by publishing numerous briefs and reports concerning the work of the judiciary system in times of reforms and attacks on judges and prosecutors. Her research and advocacy focus on issues of the independence of the judiciary, threats to the rule of law and democratic backsliding as well as shrinking civil society space. She is an author of numerous reports and legal analysis on the rule of law crisis in Poland and functioning of democratic institutions.
 

She also supports other Polish NGOS - she is the President of the Advisory Board of Polish NGO Akcja Demokracja. She is also a member of the Warsaw Bar.

Education

• From 2012 – Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Law, PhD Program.
• 2011 – 2012 – Central European University, Legal Studies Department, LLM in Comparative Constitutional Law.
• 2009 – 2011 – Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Law, Master of Criminal Law.
• 2005 – 2009 – Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Law, Bachelor of Law.

Work Experience

• From February 2018 – Deputy Public Defender of Georgia.
• 2014 – 2018 – Open Society Georgia Foundation, 2014-2016 Human Rights Program Coordinator and Manager of the same Program in 2016-2018.
• 2012 – 2014 – EU Funded Project – ‘Support to the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia’, Senior Legal Expert. ... read more

Conseiller d’Etat depuis 2007; entre 2009 et 2021, professeur associé à l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon- Sorbonne ( gestion publique, institutions européennes)  et chargé de cours à l’Université Paris Dauphine( géopolitique);  président des chambres disciplinaires nationales des architectes et des sages-femmes, membre du conseil national de l’ordre des infirmiers.  

Ambassadeur de France auprès de l’organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe(OSCE)à Vienne (2003-2006) ; Représentant adjoint de la France auprès de l’ONU à New-York(1998-2002) ;Porte-parole adjoint du Ministre des affaires étrangères 1995-1998 ; Consul général à Toronto(1992-1995) ; Conseiller auprès de la représentation de la France auprès de l’Union européenne à Bruxelles (1988-1992) ;

Elève à l’ENA 1977-1979 ; Diplôme de l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris 1975-1977 ; Diplôme d’études appliquées Paris 1 conjoncture et politiques économiques (1977-1978) ; Licence de sciences économiques Lille 1, puis Paris 2 (1971-1975).

Ivar Hendla is a strategic adviser in the Government Office of Estonia. Among other things, he is responsible for the development of Estonia’s good governance principles, NGO and public participation policy and manages the Ministries’ network of engagement coordinators. He develops the Government Office’s positions on civil society, civic space and public sector ethics.

As a former head of programme and lecturer in TalTech, much of his prior academic work focused on the field of political science and international relations. He has also worked for the Canadian Embassy in Riga as a political and media officer.

Kornél has more than twenty years of experience in the public and private sector audit. At present he serves as an advisor to the President of the State Audit Office of Hungary (SAO). Formerly Kornél had worked for several years as an auditor (audit manager, senior auditor) at the SAO, and participated in audit projects related to EU Funds, central budget and local governments. He participated in the International Auditor Fellowship Program of the Government Accountability Office of the US, in the field of evaluating government programs and policies against objectives, and preparing policy analyses. As a Director of the Hungarian National Deposit Insurance Fund, he was responsible for the audit of credit institutions and the compensation of depositors. Earlier in his career, Kornél had worked at the Ministry of Finance in the field of tax administration. He obtained his degree in law and economics at the University of Miskolc, and later on returned as a lecturer at the Department of Fiscal and Financial Law. While pursuing his university degree Kornél also gained qualification as a registered tax advisor at the Chamber of Hungarian Auditors and became an expert in taxation.