Curriculum vitae

Herdis Kjerulf Thorgeirsdottir  is an Icelandic lawyer and political scientist who has developed an international reputation in promoting freedom of expression in an era of globalisation where the significance of large media conglomerates and big tech in shaping public opinion gets ever more real. Her research has in particular been directed at civil and political rights. She has done extensive research on  freedom of the press and the protection of the rights of journalists from self-censorship due due to the integration of financial and political power and her work has been published internationally. Her recent focus has been on the growing impact of oligarchs and their unconstrained power in political economies outside the constitutional framework.

Career

Herdis Kjerulf Thorgeirsdottir is an attorney at law in Reykjavik. Professor of constitutional law and human rights at Bifrost University 2004-2012. She announced her candidacy for the office of President of Iceland on March 30, 2012. Herdis is  member of the Council of Europe Venice Commission / European Commission for Democracy through law and its First Vice President until 2019. Herdis was on the Board of Trustees of ERA (European Academy of Law) in Trier from 2012 until 2015. In 2009, she was elected President of the European Women Lawyer’s Association (EWLA) and re-elected for a second term in 2011. She is member of the EU Network of Legal Experts in gender equality (since 2003) that ensures that the European Commission is kept informed in relation to important legal developments in the field of gender equality at national level and the impact of these developments.  She is the founder of the “Network – empowering women” large conferences in Iceland since 2004 that had an impact gender equality policy and legislation. She was twice nominated for the Gender Equality Price for the Network-conferences. She has given lectures on human rights, rule of law and democracy widely.  In the 1980s and early 1990s, she was the founder, publisher and editor of Heimsmynd magazine in Iceland. Prior to that she was the founding editor of Mannlif magazine. She began her career as a journalist at Morgunbladid, a major daily newspaper in Iceland.

 

Education

Herdis Thorgeirsdottir holds a Doctor Juris degree (LLD) the highest academic law degree  from the Faculty of Law at Lund University in Lund Sweden. She also has degree in Law from the University of Reykjavik and is a member of the Icelandic Bar Association. She was a guest lecturer at Oxford University in 1999. Earlier she earned the M.A.L.D. degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. She received the B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Iceland. She also studied journalism on Fleet Street in London, the United Kingdom and prior to that psychology at the University of Aix-en-Provence.

References:

https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/news-2017/-/asset_publisher/StEVosr24HJ2/content/venice-commission-gianni-buquicchio-re-elected-president?_101_INSTANCE_StEVosr24HJ2_languageId=en_GB

https://www.visir.is/g/2017451485d

https://www.ruv.is/frett/herdis-fyrsti-varaforseti-feneyjanefndar

https://www.venice.coe.int/WebForms/pages/?p=01_01_Offices&lang=EN

https://www.era.int/cgi-bin/cms?_SID=8b8dfd50bb88c444594edf7ebd75a36420853d7100277184268752&_sprache=de&_bereich=artikel&_aktion=detail&idartikel=123927

https://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2013/04/22/herdis_i_stjorn_evropsku_lagaakademiunnar/?fb_action_ids=10200463709188340&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210200463709188340%22%3A388024264644278%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210200463709188340%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

https://ewla.org/board/

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/016934410402200405

https://timarit.is/page/984516#page/n15/mode/2up

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Herdis-Thorgeirsdottir/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AHerdis+Thorgeirsdottir

Curriculum vitae / Ferilskrá

Curriculum vitae / Ferilskrá


Dr. Juris Herdís Þorgeirsdóttir er lögmaður í Reykjavík. Hún hefur víðtæka reynslu úr akademíu og atvinnulífi, starfar bæði hér og á alþjóðavettvangi. Hún var skipuð fyrsti prófessorinn við lagadeild háskólans á Bifröst 2004 og hefur einnig kennt við háskóla erlendis. Herdís lauk doktorsprófi í lögum með dr. juris gráðu (frá lagadeild Lundarháskóla 2003). Sérsvið hennar eru mannréttindi og stjórnskipun. Sem lögmaður sinnir hún allri almennri lögmannsþjónustu; mannréttindum, fjölmiðlarétti, sifja- og fjölskyldurétti, vinnurétti  og sáttamiðlun.

Herdís er höfundur bóka og greina, sem hafa birst alþjóðlega. Fræðilegt framlag hennar á vettvangi tjáningarfrelsis og fjölmiðla er alþjóðlega viðurkennt.  Hún hefur víðtæka reynslu af alþjóðlegu samstarfi og verið kjörin til æðstu trúnaðarstarfa á alþjóðavettvangi. Herdís er fyrsti varaforseti Feneyjanefndar Evrópuráðsins (kjörin í árslok 2017) en var áður varaforseti í tvö kjörtímabil (2013-2105 og endurkjörin 2015-2017). Hún  var formaður undirnefndar Feneyjanefndarinnar um mannréttindi frá 2011-2013; á sæti í vísindaráði Feneyjanefndar og var jafnframt skipuð jafnréttisfulltrúi Feneyjanefndar í október 2014.

Herdís var kjörin forseti  Evrópusamtaka kvenlögfræðinga (European Women Lawyers’ Association /EWLA) 2009 og endurkjörin 2011. Herdís tók sæti í stjórn Evrópsku lagaakademíunnar (European Acdemy of Law /ERA) í Trier 2012, sem er miðstöð Evrópuréttar og stendur fyrir námskeiðum fyrir lögfræðinga og dómara. Hún hefur starfað í teymi evrópskra lögfræðinga á grundvelli evrópsks vinnuréttar og jafnréttis frá 2003. Hún hefur tekið mikinn þátt í öflugu mannréttindastarfi Evrópuráðsins um árabil, kennt við erlenda háskóla, haldið fyrirlestra víða um heim. Þess utan hefur Herdís sem fyrsti varaforseti nefndarinnar komið fram fyrir hönd nefndarinnar við ýmis tilefni og átt í samskiptum við stjórnvöld í ríkjum Evrópuráðsins.

Í stöðu prófessors við lagadeild háskólans á Bifröst var hún jafnframt hugmyndasmiður, stofnandi og skipuleggjandi hinna árlegu tengslanets-ráðstefna, sem voru fjölsóttustu ráðstefnur sem haldnar voru hér á landi um árabil með víðtækri þátttöku kvenna af ólíkum sviðum samfélagsins. Hún var tilnefnd til jafnréttisverðlauna í tvígang fyrir framlag sitt til jafnréttisbaráttu en í kjölfar ályktana Tengslanetsráðstefna voru gerðar lagabreytingar, m.a. um launaleynd og kynjahlutfall í stjórnum hlutafélaga.

Herdís rak eigið útgáfufyrirtæki í tæpan áratug og var frumkvöðull á sviði tímaritaútgáfu. Hún var fyrsti ritstjóri tímaritsins Mannlífs frá 1984 til 1986 en þá stofnaði hún eigið útgáfufyrirtæki Ófeig hf., sem gaf út tímaritið Heimsmynd til ársins 1994. Hún ritstýrði Heimsmynd samfleytt í 8 ár. Áður hafði hún starfað sem blaðamaður á Morgunblaðinu frá 1976-1978 og meðfram háskólanámi til 1980.

Herdís var formaður dómnefndar um íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin 2005 og 2006, skipuð af Forseta Íslands.

Herdís er  með doktorspróf frá lagadeild háskólans í Lundi (Dr. Jur. sem er gráða fyrir ofan ph.d) á sviði mannréttinda og stjórnskipunar. Hún öðlaðist hdl. réttindi 2011. Hún er með M.A.L.D gráðu (tveggja ára mastersnám) í þjóðarétti og alþjóðastjórnmálum frá Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy í Boston, auk þess sem hún er með próf í lögfræði og stjórnmálafræði. Hún var gestafræðimaður við Oxford-háskóla 1999. Hún lagði stund á nám í blaðamennsku á Fleet Street í London í einn vetur og var í námi í sálfræði við háskólann í Aix-en-Provence  veturinn eftir stúdentspróf. Hún öðlaðist réttindi til að starfa sem héraðsdómslögmaður 2011 og rekur eigin lögmannsstofu í Reykjavík.

Í störfum sínum sem lögmaður hefur Herdís lagt áherslu á samningaleið fremur en dómstólaleið til þeirra sem til hennar leita og náð góðum árangri á því sviði.

Dr Herdís Thorgeirsdóttir is an attorney at law in Reykjavík. She was appointed professor of constitutional law and human rights at the Faculty of Law, Bifrost University in 2004. She is First Vice President of the Venice Commission (the Council of Europe Commission for Democracy through Law) since 2017. Since 2003 she has been a member of the Network of Legal Experts that ensures the European Commission is kept informed in relation to important legal developments in the field of gender equality at national level, and the impact of these developments. She was elected President of the European Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA) in 2009 and re-elected in 2011. Prior to that she had been Vice President since 2005. She was appointed member of the Venice Commission, the European Commission for Democracy through Law in 2010 after having been substitute member on behalf of Iceland since 2003. She was chairman of the Sub-Commission on Human Rights of the Venice Commission from 2011 to 2013. In December 2013 she was elected Vice President of the Venice Commission. She was on the Board of Trustees of the European Academy of Law in Trier from 2012 to 2015.

Born and raised in Reykjavík, Herdís Thorgeirsdóttir has a broad educational background. She studied psychology at the University of Aix-en-Provence, journalism at the College of Journalism in London, has a B.A in political science from the University of Iceland, B.A. in law from Reykjavík University, M.A.L.D degree in international law and politics from the Fletcher School of Law at Tufts University and is Doctor of Laws (LLD, the highest academic degree in law) from the Faculty of Law from the University of Lund in Sweden. She was a publisher and editor of a monthly magazine, World View (Heimsmynd), for 8 years.

Her area of expertise is constitutional law and human rights. She has published books on freedom of expression and has developed the theory of self-censorship within the media. She  has written  extensively on the subject of civil and political rights; and on the impact of the financial powers in the democratic process. She lectures frequently on matters related to human rights, constitutional law, equality and non-discrimination. She is also a pioneer in organising very successful networking conferences for the empowerment of women; involving internationally known names as well as women from all walks of life.