The 14th of December 2007 Jan Helgesen was elected President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law of the Council of Europe (“Venice Commission”).
18/12/2007 :: Jan Helgesen is an Associate Professor of international law at the University of Oslo. He is also a legal advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has contributed to and chaired the group which produced the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Mr. Helgesen has expert knowledge in the areas of jurisprudence, constitutional law and international Human Rights law.
Moreover, Jan Helgesen has been a member of the Venice Commission for Norway since its foundation in 1990, and vice-chairman since 2001. He is succeeding Antonio La Pergola, the founder and first president of the Venice Commission, who died in July 2007.
Mr Helgesen was elected unanimously by the members of the Venice Commission on 14 December 2007 at the 73rd plenary session.
The Venice Commission is a Council of Europe consultative body on constitutional and electoral questions, composed of 52 independent experts representing the 47 Council of Europe member states as well as Kyrgyzstan, Chile, the Korean Republic, Morocco and Algeria.