Prof Bill Bowring

School of Law, Birkbeck College

Specializes in international law, human rights, minority rights and Russian and Post-Soviet law.  He was appointed Professor of Law at Birkbeck College, University of London in September 2006 and is a practising barrister. In 2002 Bill founded and is now Chair of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC) in partnership with the Russian NGO Memorial. He has taken more than 50 cases against Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Russia and others to the Strasbourg Court. He is President of the European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH – in 16 countries); International Secretary of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers; a Council Member of Liberty; a Trustee of the Redress Trust (reparation for torture survivors); President of the SCRSS (Society for Cooperation in Russian and Soviet Studies); an Executive member of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales; and a Fellow of the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex. Bill has visited Russia and the former USSR regularly since 1983, and is an expert for the Council of Europe, EU and other IGOs on human and minority rights issues. He has published over 80 books, articles and chapters. He speaks Russian.