Darian Pavli (born 7 April 1975) is judge at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

with respect to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

since 7 January 2019.

Early life and education

Pavli was born on 7 April 1975 in Vlora, Albania. He studied at the Faculty of law of the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of ...

from 1993 to 1997 and obtained there a bachelor of laws. He then completed a master of laws in comparative constitutional law at the Central European University of Budapest in 1998. In the school year 2000-2001, he completed at the New York University Law School another master of laws in public service law.

Career

Between 1998 and 2000, he worked as senior attorney for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Tirana, as well as a lecturer in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

at the University of Tirana. From 2001 to 2003, he was the researcher on human rights situation in Southeast Europe for the organization

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

. He then joined the

Open Society Justice Initiative Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...

until 2015 as senior attorney, working on various cases before international courts and mechanisms on human rights issues. In 2015, he was appointed as advisor for the Special Parliamentary Committee on Justice Reform of the Parliament of Albania. Between 2016 and 2017, he was director of programs of the

Open Society Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a sta ...

for Albania. From 2017 to 2018 he was expert on human rights law and policy for the Council of Europe and other international organizations in Tirana, and in 2018 he was appointed senior expert for the Euralius V project (

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

project working on the consolidation of the Albanian justice system). He is judge of the

(ECHR) since 7 January 2019. Controversy : In a recent NGO report, he was cited for possible conflicts of interest due to his long-lasting links to the

(OSJI) and previous work with

as he seated in a case where the OSJI was involved and another where it was Human Rights Watch. As an advisor for the Special Parliamentary Committee on Justice Reform, he directly participated in the implementation of new justice reglementation in Albania. The process of this reform was pushed by the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

and the

, which conducted notably survey to evaluate the support of the population to the reform. More generally, the

claims to be "the primary funder of the entire reform process". As an active member of the

before and after the reform and having directly participated in the process of its creation, the involvement of Darian Pavli on this matter is not to be proved. According to a new evaluation process implemented by the judicial reform ("vetting"), two judges, in particular, were dismissed: Besa Nikëhasani who was a prosecutor, and Altina Xhoxhaj who was a Constitutional Court judge. Both of them submitted their cases before the

which were examined when Darian Pavli was already judge at the ECHR. Despite being asked to examine processes which he participated to create, he ruled in both cases and did not defer. The nomination of Darian Pavli as a candidate for the ECHR by the Albanian government was also controversial. Indeed, Albanian press pointed out that Pavli had links with the Albanian Prime Minister

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama, 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairm ...

. First, they are said to be related (even if the Albanian press is not clear about this link, one presents them as cousins, while the other declares Pavli is the cousin of Rama's wife). Second, the

openly supported Edi Rama in the past. Finally, the government was also accused of presenting the candidates to the ECHR without submitting them to the "vetting" system, mandatory for Albanian judges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavli, Darian 1975 births Living people University of Tirana alumni Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe New York University School of Law alumni Academic staff of the University of Tirana Human Rights Watch people Human rights lawyers Judges of the European Court of Human Rights