Péter Kovács (born 10 February 1959 in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, Hungary) is a Hungarian professor of

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

at the Peter Pazmany Catholic University, where he is the head of the Public International Law Department and the Doctoral School. Kovács has been a judge at the

Constitutional Court of Hungary The Constitutional Court of Hungary () is a special court of Hungary, making judicial review of the acts of the Parliament of Hungary. The official seat of the Constitutional Court is Budapest. Until 2012 the seat was Esztergom. The Constituti ...

since 2005. Previously he served as a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

at the Embassy of Hungary in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and as the head of the Department for

Human Rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and Minority Protection in the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kovács was elected as a judge on the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

(ICC) in the 2014 election of judges by the Assembly of State Parties. His nine-year term at the ICC ended in March 2024, but he is continuing in office pursuant to Article 36 (10) of the

Rome Statute The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

to complete the trial of Alfred Yekatom and

Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona (born 30 June 1967) is the former Central African minister of sports, president of the Central African Football Federation and leader of Anti-balaka. He was arrested in 2018 on a warrant by the International Criminal C ...

. Kovács graduated from the Faculty of Law of József Attila University in 1983. After his studies at the European University Centre in

Nancy, France Nancy is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, annexed by France under King Louis X ...

, in 1983/84, he received his law degree specialized in community rights. For Kovács' thesis ''Protection of fundamental rights in the community rights system'', 1987, he was awarded the title of “doctor universitatis” at the

University of Miskolc The University of Miskolc (before 1990: ''Technical University of Heavy Industry'') is the largest university of Northern Hungary. Location Most of the buildings can be found in Egyetemváros ("University Town"), a part of the city of Miskolc. ...

, accredited as a Ph.D. degree in 1996. He qualified as a

university lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in 1997. From 1983 he was senior lecturer, from 1998 university professor, between 1999 and 2005 head of Department for International Law at Miskolc. Kovács was granted full professorship, and between 1997 and 2005 he was head of Department at Peter Pazmany. Between 1990 and 1994, Kovács worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary to Paris, within the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while in 1998/99 he was head of Department for Human Rights and Minority Law. In his quality of governmental expert, he took part in the elaboration of two conventions on the protection of minorities, concluded under the auspices of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, namely the

European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. However, t ...

and the

Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) is a multilateral treaty of the Council of Europe aimed at protecting the minority rights, rights of minorities. It came into effect in 1998 and by 2009 it had been ratif ...

. As a visiting professor, Kovács gave lectures at several universities in France:

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

(one month in 2000), Paris-Sud (one month in 2002), Panthéon-Assas (one month in 2003),

University of Nantes Nantes University () is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazaire and La Roche-sur-Yon. The university ...

(one month in 2003); as well as in the United States (six months in 2002,

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

). He is a member of the Société Française pour le Droit International.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Peter 1959 births Living people Hungarian legal scholars International Criminal Court judges Hungarian judges Diplomats for Hungary Hungarian judges of international courts and tribunals Constitutional Court of Hungary judges