Judge Péter Kovács

Biography

Judge as of 11 March 2015 for a term of nine years. 

Judge Kovács (1959), after graduation from the Law School of the Attila József University (Szeged), made postgradual studies in France (Nancy, Centre Européen Universitaire). After his return to Hungary, he began his academic carrier, first as a lecturer at the University of Miskolc then as head of department of international law in Miskolc and in Budapest, at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University. He is a PhD, dr. habil, and D.Sc. He also served as a diplomat at the Hungarian Embassy in paris between 1990-1994 and was head of the department of human rights & minority law at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998-1999. As a governmental expert, he participated in the drafting of the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework-convention for the Protection of National Minorities, both elaborated under the auspices of the Council of Europe. Between 2005-2014, he was judge of the Hungarian Constitutional Court. He is the author of international law manuals, books and articles on minority protection, human rights, international humanitarian law and comparative international jurisprudence. He is a member of the Société Française pour le Droit International, the International Law Association and the Institut International des Droits de l'Homme. He lectured as a visiting professor at several universities of France (Paris II, Paris XI, Nantes, Montpellier), Germany (Regensburg) and the United States (Denver). He was decorated with the Ordre National du Mérite of the French Republic. He is married and has three daughters.