Inadmissibility of torture-tainted evidence: the role of the legal profession

Judge Myjer served as a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights from 2004 to 2012 and is currently serving his second term as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, following his election in 2013. He is an Emeritus Professor of Human Rights at the Free University of Amsterdam. Previously, Judge Myjer held the distinguished positions of Deputy Prosecutor-General/Chief Advocate General at the Court of Appeal, Amsterdam (1996-2004); Advocate-General of the Court of Appeal, The Hague (1991-1995); Vice-President of the District Court of Zutphen (1986-1991); and Judge of the District Court of Zutphen (1981-1986). Judge Myjer holds a Masters degree in Law from the University of Utrecht and has also served as Associate Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Leiden. He has written and contributed to over forty books, conference papers and commentaries; has co-edited several books including the Human Rights Manual for Prosecutors (2003) and was a founding member of the editorial board for the Netherlands Humans Rights Law Review (NJCM-bulletin – 1976-2004). He is also a member of the board of Amnesty International the Netherlands, the UAF (Foundation for Refugee Students) and the International Service for Human Rights. In 2000, Judge Myjer was honoured as Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau, for work undertaken in the Netherlands in the field of human rights, and in 2012 he was promoted to Commander. In 2001 he received the Medal of Merit of the Council of Europe, for his contribution to the human rights education for members of the Dutch Judiciary. In 2004 he was awarded with the Certificate of Merit of the International Association of Prosecutors. In 2012, he was made an honorary bencher of the Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn, United Kingdom.

Gitau Mwangi is a Legal Advisor on National, Regional and International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. Mwangi is an innovative, dedicated, diligent legal professional, with over five years' global experience, working on human rights and governance. His practice focuses on legal analysis, legislative drafting, and public interest litigation among other disciplines. He has amassed expertise in law reform, democratic governance and constitutionalism at the national and regional level.

Ilvija Pūce is a lawyer (LL.M. in International and European Law) with more than twenty years of experience in the areas of international human rights and solid work experience at national and international levels, with in-depth knowledge of international human rights law and of international and regional human rights systems and practices. She is a Member of the United Nations Committee against Torture (elected for the period of 2020-2023) and Legal Adviser at the Department of Administrative Law, Supreme Court of Latvia. She was previously a Member of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in respect of Latvia (2007-2019).

Patricia del Arenal Urueta holds a bachelor’s degree in Law by Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, where she graduated with highest honours. She attended Harvard Law School to study an LL.M and later enrolled in a Visiting Researcher program. In 2014, she was awarded with the “Romulo Gallegos” Fellowship at the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, where she spent a year focusing on admissibility issues of individual cases and petitions. She currently works as a clerk to Justice Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena at the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice. Her work has been focused on human rights and criminal due process.