Iulia Antoanella Motoc (born 20 August 1967) is a Romanian judge and international law expert, currently a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights and a professor at the University of Bucharest. Before beginning her service at the Court, she served as 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. 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. 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.
Early life and education
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).
Career
In Romania
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 She held this position until she became a judge at the European Court of Human Rights at the end of 2013.
UNCHR career and other international activities
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.
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).