Iulia Antoanella Motoc | |
|---|---|
 Motoc in 2013 | |
| Judge of the International Criminal Court | |
| Assumed office 11 March 2024 | |
| Appointed by | Assembly of States Parties |
| Judge at the European Court of Human Rights | |
| In office 18 December 2013 – 2 July 2023 | |
| Nominated by | Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe |
| Preceded by | Corneliu Birsan |
| Succeeded by | Sebastian Rădulețu |
| Judge at the Constitutional Court of Romania | |
| In office 15 June 2010 – 17 December 2013 | |
| Succeeded by | Toni Greblă |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 August 1967[1] Timișoara, Romania |
| Spouse | Mihnea Motoc |
| Children | Luca-Mihnea Motoc |
| Occupation | Judge at European Court of Human Rights, professor and lawyer |
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Iulia Antoanella Motoc (born 20 August 1967) is a Romanian judge and international law expert, currently a Judge of the International Criminal Court. Before beginning her service at the Court, she was a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, a professor at the University of Bucharest and a Judge at the Constitutional Court of Romania.
Motoc was UN Special Rapporteur for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and she chaired a number of international experts bodies and was Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Committee. On 1 October 2013, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected Motoc a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Romania.[2] She received an absolute majority of votes cast by parliamentarians. Her nine-year term of office began on 18 December 2013. In August 2021, she was elected as a member of the Institut de Droit International.[3] On 28 March 2023, following a selection process, she was chosen by the Romanian Government to be Romania's candidate for the post of Judge at the International Criminal Court.[4][5]
Iulia Motoc was born in Timișoara. She graduated from the school of law at the University of Bucharest. Iulia Antoanella Motoc holds a master's degree from the Paul Cézanne University School of Law, Aix-Marseille (1991) a doctorate in international law from Paul Cézanne University, Aix-Marseille (summa cum laude) in 1996 an habilitation in law from Jean Monnet Department University of Paris-Sud (1998) in and a doctorate in ethics from the University of Bucharest, Department of Philosophy (1999). Iulia Motoc was fellow in philosophy to the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna (1999) and to the Yale School of Law (2004–2007).
Iulia Motoc was a magistrate in Romania, prosecutor, and judge (1989–1995) in criminal law. In 1995 she passed the full registration exam for judges in civil and criminal law. In 1996 she was admitted as a lawyer in the Bucharest Bar. After which she joined the University of Bucharest, as a teaching assistant and later becoming a full professor in 2002. She was a member of the Presidential Commission for Analysis of the Constitution (2007–2008) and rapporteur for the chapter on human rights. Motoc was elected judge at the Constitutional Court of Romania in 2010. She adjudicated on the constitutionality of laws and decided on exceptions brought to the Courts of law as to the unconstitutionality of laws and orders in civil and criminal law[6] She held this position until she became a judge at the European Court of Human Rights at the end of 2013.
Iulia Motoc became a member of the United Nations Subcommission on Human Rights in 1996, first as an alternate and in 2000–2001 she served as a President of United Nations Subcommission on Human Rights. She has co-authored the Working Paper on Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Indigenous People which was incorporated in the UN Declaration for Indigenous People. Motoc was on the co-author of the UN Guidelines principles for Extreme poverty. She was the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Human Genome, author of the first reports of the United Nations in the field of genetics (2004–2007).
She was UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for the Democratic Republic of Congo (2001–2004). In this capacity she has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo in a conflict area and she has reported on the massive violations of human rights quoted including by International Criminal Court Prosecutor.[citation needed]
Iulia Motoc was elected member of the Advisory Committee for the Protection of National Minorities (1998–2004) and (2008–2012). She was a member of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union (2010–2012) and Motoc was also an arbiter with ICSID, Washington (2008–2014).
Iulia Motoc is Professor of International Law and European Law at the University of Bucharest since 2002. She was director (Romania) of the European Master on Human Rights and Democratization, European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization, Venise (2007–2015). Iulia Motoc was teaching at New York University School of Law (2002–2003) where she was Senior Jean Monnet Fellow. She has also taught at St-Thomas University in Miami (2001–2003) and she was Special Guest Professor at the European Academy oh Human Rights at the European Institute in Florence (2006). Iulia Motoc is research professor, Institute for Research in International and European Law, Sorbonne (2012–2014). At the European Court of Human Rights, Iulia Motoc has created a group of international law. She also initiated joint conferences between the European Society of International Law and the European Court of Human Rights.[7]
Motoc started her term as a judge of the European Court of Human Rights on 18 December 2013. In 2022, her dissenting opinion for the case of N. v. Romania was voted as the best separate opinion of the year 2021 by Strasbourg Observers.[8][9] According to Strasbourg Observers:
In her Partly Dissenting Opinion, Judge Motoc argued for a finding of violation of Article 14 read in conjunction with Article 8. She analysed the majority's refusal to consider Article 14 in this case, drawing on scholars who have called it the ‘Cinderella’ provision of the Convention. Judge Motoc then added her own understanding of Article 14 as the ‘Hamlet’ article of the ECHR, before arguing why it is so important to be willing to consider the discrimination of mentally disabled persons. She emphasised that human rights are often forgotten in the area of mental health and that those who suffer with mental health issues are often subject to discrimination and other forms of marginalization, thus being particularly vulnerable to human rights violations (paras. 7–9). This result suggests that our readership places particular importance on the rights of mentally disabled persons, and agrees with Judge Motoc's argument that the Court should be less circumspect in applying Article 14.[8]
Along with other judges, she was cited in an independent NGO report for possible conflict of interest as she seated in three cases in which the International Commission of Jurists(ICJ) intervened as third party.[10][11]
