JORGE CARDONA, born in Valencia on 30 April 1957, is a prestigious International Law jurist, (A) a specialist in, among other areas, human rights, (B) with a special focus on the rights of the child (C) as reflected by his career in teaching (i) and research, (ii), in the field of international practice and in development cooperation (iii), and who has been member and expert in the Committee for the last 3 years, developing a renown activity (D). His candidacy has been presented by the Spanish Government after extensive consultations and the express and unanimous support of the civil society’s organizations working with children in Spain and Latin-American and the Caribbean (E).

1. (A)Dr. Jorge Cardona teaches Public International Law since 1980
   

(i) He received the Special National Award (1980) and Special National PhD Award in Law at the University of Valencia (1984). The candidate has taught International Law at the Spanish Universities of Valencia (1980-1984, 1985-95, and since 2008), Alicante (1984-85), and Jaume I in Castellón (1995-2008). Director of the International Law Section at the Bancaja International Centre for  Peace and Development (since 1997). Henri Rolin Chair at the Universities of Louvain-La-Neuve and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (2009). Jean Monnet Chair in Community Law (since 1997). Chairman of the Mediterranean Institute of European Studies (since 1999). Chairman of the Centre for Studies on Law and International Relations (since 2007). DIrector of the UN Depository Library of the University of Valencia (since 2008). Director of Bancaja Euro-Mediterranean Courses in International Law (which has been recognised by the UNESCO with the Mahatma Gandhi Gold Medal for Peace). Member of the Scientific Committee of the Revista Española de Derecho Internacional (1990-1998 and 2010-today).  Director of the UNHCR Observatory in Valencia (from 2010). Invited Professors in several European, American and African Universities

(ii) Author of nearly 150 publications on International Law, in particular on: the Law of Treaties, the Law of International Responsibility, the Law of International Organisations, human rights, and peacekeeping and international security

(iii) UNESCO Special Advisor on: “Works of the Spirit as Common Heritage of Mankind” (1999-2000); Counsel for the Kingdom of Spain before the International Court of Justice in the case of the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo; and Legal Adviser to different States on international affairs with in advisory and contentious cases. Member of the Experts Group of Committee on Commerce and Sustainable Development, created by the European Union and its member States and the Republic of Korea by the Free Trade Agreement (from 2012)

2. (B)Dr. Jorge Cardona is an specialist in the field of Human Rights
   

(i) He is a member of the Scientific Board of the Master on Human Rights, Peace and Sustainable Development of the University of Valencia, as well as for the International Doctorate Programme on Human Rights.

(ii) Among the R+D projects specially related to the human rights, it could be mentioned among others: “The protection of vulnerable individuals and groups in International and European Law”, “Vulnerability by reason of age, disability, immigration, gender, imprisonment and refuge. Study of International and European protection”; “Armed Conflicts, Peacekeeping and Transitional Justice: Law as Solution (ATLAS)”(with special reference to the protection of the rights of women and children in armed conflict and post-conflict situations); and “International and European Protection of the rights of individuals with disabilities”

(iii) Former member of the Comisión de Notables appointed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the study of the reform of the Inter-American System of Human Rights (1999-2001) and his condition of Legal Expert of the Conference of Ibero-American Ministers of Justice (COMJIB) in the human rights field (since 2008). Member of the Board of Trustees and Director of the Foundation for Justice Projects (a human rights NGO) and director of the UN-I-MON Project carried out by the UNHCR, the University of Valencia and the Valencian Regional Government.

(C) Specifically in relation to the Rights of the Children, Dr. Jorge Cardona has a wide experience

(i) In the teaching field, he has been collaborating for many years in the course for the University Diploma of the Rights of the Child, organised by the University of Valencia, in collaboration with UNICEF.

(ii) In the field of research, within the framework of the ATLAS Research Project on Transnational Justice, he has researched in particular the EU’s action respecting and ensuring respect for the rights of the child in conflict and post-conflict situations, specially in missions to restore the Rule of Law. He also participates in projects on the rights of individuals (and children, particularly) with disabilities and, in particular, in its projects: ‘Evaluation and assessment of the child’s higher interest’ (funded by the R+D Ministry of Spain), ‘Child Rights and the Business Sector: Dissemination and implementation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights” (with the ICJ and funded by OAK Foundation). Dr. Cardona has contributed to more than 200 international and domestic colloquiums, scientific events and meetings ; has supervised more than 100 law degree thesis and more than ten doctoral thesis on human rights, in general, and rights of the children, in particular.

(iii) In the field of international practice, could be underlined his activities as Member of the Board of Directors of the UNICEF Office in Valencia, Rapporteur and drafter, within COMJIB, on the Promotion and protection of human rights of persons of minors within the framework of the criminal process, or on the Promotion and protection of human rights of the victims of crime within the framework of judicial process, with special reference to victims of gender offenses. Drafter of the relevant proposal of recommendation approved by the Ibero-American Ministers of Justice. Member of the Committee appointed by the Secretariat of the Ibero-American Youth Organisation (OIJ) for the monitoring of the compliance by States of the Ibero-American Convention on Young People’s Rights (2010). Within the development cooperation field, he participates in the following projects which are particularly related to the rights of the child: “Programme to reduce traditional harmful practices for women”, in collaboration with the Kembetta Women’s Self Help Centre (KMG) in Ethiopia; or he cooperates with the “Diamond Child” in Sierra Leone. In Spain, he further collaborates in several projects relating to social integration of minors’ offenders, educational integration of children with Down Syndrome and support for autistic children and their families.

(D) As member and expert of the Committee on the Rights of the Child since 2011:

In the Committee, Dr. Cardona has been rapporteur of several States, coordinator or member of several Country Task Force in the framework of the interactive dialog with States. He has also performed the following tasks, among others:

(i) Rapporteur on the modification of the Rules of the Committee and its working methods (in the framework of the improvement of the treaty-based bodies system and the Committee as such)

(ii) Member of the Working Group elaborating the General Comments No 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1)

(iii) Member of the Working Group elaborating the General Comments No 16 (2013) on the impact of business sector on the rights of child

(iv) Member of the Working Group preparing the entry into force and initial application of the Third Facultative Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Children

(v) Committee’s Focal point for the implementation and follow-up project of General Comment No 16

(vi) Coordinator of the Working Group for the elaboration of a General Comment on ‘investing in childhood’.

5. (E)Unanimous support of the candidacy
   

Before the Spanish Government decided to present Jorge Cardona’s candidacy, extensive consultations were held with the civil society organizations working with children in Spain. These included the Spanish Committee for UNICEF, the Plataforma de Organizaciones de Infancia (POI) which is the national network that brings together more than 50 organizations working in the field of childhood in Spain, Save the Children, etc. All of them have given unanimous and explicit support for the candidacy. The later has also received explicit support from REDLAMYC, the regional network of national networks that integrates 35 NGO networks of children from 22 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with a coverage of about 2,500 NGOs throughout the region.

Recent publications on human rights

In the last three years, specifically on human rights, Dr. Cardona’s scientific publications are:

"Diritti umani e diversità nelle abilità individuali: dalla discriminazione alla inclusione." Ragion Pratica. Revista de filosofía práctica, 2011, pp. 185 - 212.

“Human Rights and the Inclusive Society", in Globalization and Human Rights: Challenges and Answers from a European Perspective. pp. 51 - 72. Springer Netherlands, 2012.

“El tercer Protocolo de la Convención de los Derechos del Niño: la consagración del niño como sujeto de derechos humanos y los nuevos desafíos del Comité de los Derechos del Niño”, en Revista do Instituto Brasileiro de Direitos Humanos, vol. 12 nº 12, 2012, pp. 211-228.

“La Convención de los derechos del niño: significado, alcance y nuevos retos", en Temas de actualidad jurídica sobre la niñez. pp. 1-18; Ed.: Porrúa (México), 2012

“Droits de l’enfant et secteur privé : existe-t-il un besoin de Convention contraignante?”, en Droits de l’enfant et secteur prive: amener les Etats et les entreprises a remplir leurs obligations, Institut International des Droits de l’Enfant, pp. 72-85, 2012

“La Convención Iberoamericana de Derechos de la Juventud y los sistemas internacionales de protección de derechos humanos en los ámbitos universal y regional", en Estudio sobre la Convención Iberoamericana de Derechos de los Jóvenes Editorial: OIJ. Available electronically at: http://www.oij.org/file_upload/publicationsItems/document/20130114165345_51.pdf

"Worrying Tendencies: children"s criminalization" (edito)., en News de l'Institut International des droits de l'Enfant, 2012, pp. 1-3, Available electronically at: <http://www.childsrights.org/ html/site_en/>.

"La Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño: significado, alcance y nuevos retos".en Revista Educatio siglo XXI, vol. 30, 2012, pp. 47 - 68.

"El derecho de las personas con discapacidad intelectual al acceso al empleo público en España: una propuesta a la luz de la Convención sobre los derechos de las personas con discapacidad." En La perspectiva de derechos humanos de la discapacidad. pp. 119-161. Tirant lo Blanch, 2012.

"Hacia el fortalecimiento del sistema de órganos de Tratados de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas", en Nuevas fronteras del derecho de la Unión Europea: liber amicorum: José Luis Iglesias Buhigues, pp. 969 – 983. Tirant lo Blanch, 2012.

"Vers la révision du système conventionnel de contrôle des droits de l"homme ?" (Editorial). European Society of International Law. Newsletter, pp. 1-3. European Society of International Law, 2012. Available electronically at: <http://www.esil-sedi.eu/english/February%202012.xps>.

“La evaluación y determinación del interés superior del niño.” Revista Española de Derecho Internacional vol. LXV – 2, 2013, pp. 253-258.

“Droit à l’éducation des enfants en situation de handicap : exclusion, intégration et inclusión”, en Droit des enfants en situation de handicap pp. 49 - 58. IDE, 2013.

“Retos, amenazas y esperanzas en el sistema de control y garantía de los derechos humanos en Naciones Unidas”, en Unity and Diversity of International Law. Essays in Honour of Professor Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Brill 2014.

“La transposition des droits de l’enfant dans les systèmes juridiques nationaux”, en Regards croisés sur deux décennies d’application de la Convention des Nations-Unies relative aux droits de l’enfant au Nord et au Sud de la Méditerranée, Monaco, 2014.