Annual Lecture of the Human Rights Centre

Biographies

Judge Iulia Motoc, International Criminal Court, Pre-Trial Division
Judge Iulia Motoc, from Romania, was elected as an ICC Judge on 4 December 2023, and her term of appointment is 11 March 2024 - 10 March 2033. She is currently assigned to the Pre-Trial Division. 

Prior to joining the ICC, Judge Motoc was a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights (2013-2023) and Professor of International Law. She also served as a UN Special Rapporteur for the Democratic Republic of the Congo reporting on crimes against humanity and war crimes. Judge Motoc is a member of the Institut de Droit International.

As a judge at the Constitutional Court of Romania and Judge at the ECHR, Judge Motoc dealt with serious and complex cases including corruption and sexual violence, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, in cases such as Drelingas v Lithuania and interstate cases such as Ukraine and the Netherlands v Russia or Chiragov and Others v Armenia and Sargsyan v Azerbaijan.

Judge Motoc has extensive experience with various legal systems. She was a member and Vice President of the UN Human Rights Committee examining the right to life, enforced disappearances and other massive violations of human rights that are also within the competence of the International Criminal Court. She was a member and President of the UN Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. She co-drafted the UN Report of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people and the UN Guidelines of Extreme Poverty.

Judge Motoc holds an LLB from the University of Bucharest (1989) a Master’s degree (1991) and a PhD in International Law from the University Paul Cezanne, Aix-Marseille III (1996). Judge Motoc has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bucharest (1999) and was a Senior Fellow at the NYU School of Law (2003-2004) and Yale School of Law (2004-2007). She has been a visiting professor at various institutions including the European Institute Florence, University Paris I, and Academy of International Law, The Hague. She is the author of more than 80 publications.

Dr Matthew Gillett, Senior Lecturer, Essex Law School
Dr Gillett is the Chair-Rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Prior to joining academia, he served as a Prosecuting Trial Attorney and Appeals Counsel with the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. He has also conducted investigations in various conflict zones, including as a Human Rights Officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ("UNAMA"). Dr Gillett has published widely on matters relating to international law, peace and security and the environment. 

Professor Carla Ferstman, Director of the Essex Human Rights Centre and Professor, Essex Law School
Professor Ferstman researches, writes, and consults in the areas of human rights, international criminal law and public international law. Before joining academia in 2018, she worked for many years as a human rights practitioner, with civil society organisations, intergovernmental organisations and in private practice.  She is the former Director of REDRESS (2004 – 2018) and previously Legal Director (2001 – 2004). She also previously worked with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda (1995 – 1997), Amnesty International (1998 – 1999) and was Executive Legal Advisor of the Commission for Real Property Claims of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999 – 2001). She also served as a judge on the Aban Tribunal (the International People’s Tribunal on Iran’s Atrocities of November 2019). 

Key timings

4.30pm - 6.00pm - Lecture
6.00pm - 7.00pm - Drinks Reception

How to register

• In person - Please book your place via Eventbrite.
• Online - Please join the event via zoom.