Projects*
* Projects from before 2016, you can view here.
Project: ‘Free Legal Aid and Access to Justice Project',
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Tirana, Albania.
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October 2023 -present
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• Team Lead for project exploring how key developments in the justice sector have improved people's access to justice in Albania.
Project: ‘‘Strengthening rule of law and human rights protection in Uzbekistan’,
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
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July 2023 - present
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• Preparation of a comparative study of foreign legal aid practices to create first Uzbek legal aid system.
Project: ‘Strengthening the institutional capacity of justice sector actors and law faculties in relation to international fair trial and human rights standards',
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
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June 2023 - present
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• Preparation of report and development, delivery and supervision of training programmes (Training of Trainers) on international fair trial standards for judges, lawyers, law faculties and civil society organizations advocating for the rights of women, children, people with disabilities, sex workers and people living with HIV.
Project: ‘Best Practices in Human Rights Education. Cooperation of Journalists with Ombudsperson’s Office on Media Coverage of Human Rights',
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
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April - July 2023
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• Delivery of workshop on freedom of expression and the role of National Human Rights Institutions ('Paris Principles') to TV broadcasters, civil society organizations and students, and development of report on media coverage of human rights for National Ombudsperson of Turkmenistan.
Project: Project ‘Enhanced Access to Legal Aid Services for Marginalized Populations’, Council of Europe Programme Office in Georgia.
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March 2023 - October 2023
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• Review of legal aid system to ensure quality of service, particularly with regard to provision of legal aid services to vulnerable groups (beneficiary: Legal Aid Service)
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Project: Monitoring selected trials related to the January 2022 events in Kazakhstan,
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Warsaw, Poland
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December 2022 - present
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• Author of report on victim compensation and respect of witness rights in trials resulting from the January 2022 events in Kazakhstan (known locally as "Bloody January").
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Project 'Mainstreaming Human-Rights Based Approach through Strengthened Institutional Capacity in Azerbaijan',
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Baku, Azerbaijan
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September 2022 - February 2023
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• Lead adviser to review the effectiveness and efficiency of the legal aid system of Azerbaijan to ensure equal access to justice for vulnerable groups (beneficiary: Ministry of Justice).
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Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme,
European Commission, European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), Brussels, Belgium
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March 2022 - present
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• Appointed to international expert panel 'Capacity Building and Strategic Litigation relating to Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Breaches'.
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• Appointed to international expert panel 'Support for Local, Regional and National Civil Society Organisations' to create an enabling and safe environment for civil society actors.
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Project 'Strategic Support to Strengthen the Rule of Law',
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Vientiane Capital, Laos
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September 2021 - March 2022
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• Lead adviser to develop a national strategy for legal aid provision in Laos for the period 2022-26 (beneficiary: Ministry of Justice).
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Project 'Compliance assessment of EU Law Enforcement Directive', European Commission, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), Brussels, Belgium
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September 2021 - December 2022
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• Appointed External National Expert for Germany to conduct study of transposition of Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the processing of personal data by police and prosecution authorities ('Law Enforcement Directive').
Project 'Risks of Money Laundering and Fraud in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)',
European Commission, Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMATE), Brussels Belgium
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May 2020 - January 2021
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• Appointed External National Expert for Germany to conduct study of ‘Risks of money laundering and fraud in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)‘ and to interview national police authorities and financial intelligence units.
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Project 'Strengthening the Access to Justice in Latvia through Fostering Mediation and Legal Aid Services',
Council of Europe, Division for the independence and efficiency of justice (CEPEJ), Riga, Latvia
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October 2019 - July 2021
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• Lead adviser and board member to set up and oversee Latvia's first pilot legal aid advice centres (beneficiary: Ministry of Justice).
Project 'Analysis of Current Procedures and Practices of Judicial Discipline and Review of Commentary to the Code of Judicial Ethics',
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Office Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
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October 2019 - December 2019
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• Review of commentary to Kazakh Code of Judicial Conduct and proposal of recommendations to further compliance of Kazakh judges with international human rights standards (beneficiary: Supreme Court of Kazakhstan).
Project 'Supporting the Criminal Justice Reforms - Tackling Criminal Aspects of the Judicial Reform in Georgia',
Council of Europe, Office in Georgia
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July 2019 - September 2020
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• Review of Code of Criminal Procedure (rendering and enforcement of judgments, appeals and cassation) and proposal of recommendations to further compliance with international human rights standards.
Justice Programme,
European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), Brussels, Belgium
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June 2019 - present
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• Appointed to expert committee promoting judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters to provide high-level expertise and act as evaluator of proposals for specific calls used by the European Commission to make significant funding decisions.
Project 'Guidelines Aimed at Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Legal Aid Schemes in the Member States in the Areas of Civil and Administrative Law', Council of Europe, European Committee for Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), Strasbourg, France
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May 2019 - April 2021
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• Lead-adviser to draft Europe's first guidelines on legal aid.
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(ADOPTED by the Council of Europe's Committee on Ministers on 31 March 2021)
Project 'Compliance assessment of IORP II',
European Commission, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), Brussels, Belgium
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April 2019 - November 2020
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• Appointed External National Expert for Germany to conduct study of transposition of Directive (EU) 2016/2341 on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (‘IORP II’).
ERC project 'Cultural Expertise in Europe: What is it useful for? (EURO-EXPERT)', Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
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October 2018 - April 2021
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• Investigated the obstacles vulnerable groups like refugees and ethnic minorities encounter when standing trial in EU national courts (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands), funded by European Research Council (PI: Prof Livia Holden).
Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), Brussels, Belgium
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October 2018 - October 2020
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• Appointed to expert panels promoting access to justice, procedural rights and victims’ rights to provide high-level expertise and act as evaluator of proposals for specific calls used by the European Commission to make significant funding decisions.
Project 'Compliance assessment of EU Insurance Distribution Directive', European Commission, Directorate-General Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets (DG FISMA), Brussels, Belgium
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October 2018 - October 2020
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• Appointed National Expert for Germany to conduct study of transposition of Directive (EU) 2016/97 on insurance distribution.
'Joint Project on Strengthening the Capacity of Bar Associations and Lawyers on European Human Rights Standards’,
Council of Europe, Office in Ankara, Turkey
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July 2018 - August 2019
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• Lead of sub-group to develop Turkey's first uniform human rights complaint and data collection mechanism for bar associations and lawyers.
Project 'Compliance assessment of PSD2',
European Commission, Directorate-General Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets (DG FISMA), Brussels, Belgium
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July 2018 - June 2020
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• Appointed National Expert for Germany to conduct study of transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2366 on payment services in the internal market (‘PSD 2’).
Project 'Compliance assessment of EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive',
European Commission, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), Brussels, Belgium
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February 2018 - February 2019
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• Appointed External National Expert for Germany to conduct study of transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/849 to prevent use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (‘Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive‘).
Project 'Compliance assessment of EU Victims' Rights Directive', European Commission, Directorate-General Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), Brussels, Belgium
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December 2017 - March 2019
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• Appointed External National Expert for Germany to conduct study of transposition of Directive 2012/29/EU to establish minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (‘Victims’ Rights Directive’).
Project 'ius menschenrechte' (human rights data base for lawyers), German Institute for Human Rights, Berlin, Germany
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August 2017 - October 2017
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• Set up, in collaboration with the German federal government, Germany’s first nationwide online human rights data base for lawyers to increase awareness of disability rights to the legal profession.
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Project 'Increasing Accountability and Respect for Human Rights of Judicial Authorities’, Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC), The Hague, Netherlands
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August 2016 - April 2017
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• Authored, in collaboration with local partners, policy papers on judicial harassment of human rights defenders in post-Soviet countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine), produced model guidelines for judges and prosecutors, identified advocacy strategies, facilitated dialogue between key stakeholders, and presented outcomes at high-level meetings, including with Council of Europe and OSCE officials.