Confronting aporophobia, hate crimes against the poor

I studied French and German law at the Universities of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Cologne. In 2002, I joined the Luxembourg Bar as a lawyer. From 2007 to 2017, I was a magistrate in the correctional chambers of the District Court of Luxembourg and for the next four years, I also sat on civil cases. In 2022, I returned to the bar to join the law firm Arendt&Medernach as a Partner of the business crime and the employment practice areas. I am the author of various reference books and compendiums, in particular on criminal law and employment law. I teach at the University of Luxembourg since 2005.

Alberto Mata Rodríguez a Partner at CMS Albiñana Suárez de Lezo - Banking & Finance Department - He has also worked as an extern of the Financial and Fiscal Law Unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has collaborated with the World Bank as a contributor of the Doing Business Report from 2015 to 2020. His areas of expertise are real estate finance, acquisition finance, asset finance (including tax leases), project finance and restructuring and corporate finance matters. Mr. Mata Rodríguez has a degree in Law (J.D. equivalent) and a B.B.A. from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. He has taken part in various educational programs in different universities around the world, such as Harvard Law School (Massachusetts, USA); European Business School (Oestrich- Winkel, Germany); University of Florida (Florida, USA); Bled School of Management (Bled, Slovenia); and Lehigh University (Pennsylvania, USA). Furthermore, in 2013 he pursued a LL.M. in Securities & Financial Regulation at Georgetown University, where he was a member of this university’s Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility. In 2013 the International Bar Association (IBA) awarded Mr. Mata Rodríguez with the IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year in Recognition of William Reece Jr. award. In addition, in 2018 Alberto was included by Legal 500 in the GC Power List Spain, – which highlights the most influential senior in-house counsels in the Spanish legal market –. Also, Mr. Mata Rodríguez has been selected as one of the top Economic Leaders for Tomorrow in Spain for years 2018 and 2019 by Choiseul Institute. In addition, Alberto serves as a Vice-President of the Board of Trustees (Patronato) of Fundación HogarSí; as Secretary of the Board of Trustees of UNICEF Madrid Committee (Junta Directiva de Madrid); and as member of the Board of Trustees of the International Institute. He also teaches at IE University and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

María Aldanas is a Policy Officer at FEANTSA. Since 2016, she has been leading on homelessness and housing rights issues and coordinating the Housing Rights Watch network. This multidisciplinary network brings together NGOs, academics, lawyers and others to promote access to housing rights for homeless people, support strategic litigation and combat the criminalisation of homelessness. Maria studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid and holds a Master's degree in Migration and Intercultural Relations.