Mr. Edwin Rekosh is founder and Executive Director of PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law, an international NGO that connects with local partners to develop the institutions essential to rights-respecting societies. PILnet envisions a world where rule of law, as developed and supported within a wide variety of countries, delivers justice and protects human rights. PILnet connects with local partners to develop the institutions essential to rights-respecting societies. It inspires lawyers to serve the public interest, strengthens the ability of civil society to help shape law and policy and makes formal systems of justice more accessible. One of PILnet’s signature programs is its International Fellows Program, which has transformed the careers of over 80 young public interest lawyers from 30 countries, including China, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, Serbia, Nigeria and Brazil, by equipping them with the necessary tools to make a profound impact on their local communities. PILnet conducts its work from hubs in Beijing, Budapest, Moscow and New York.
For more than fifteen years, Mr. Rekosh has been a leader in the effort to promote the development of public interest law throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the former Soviet Union and, more recently, in China. He teaches Human Rights, Law and Development at Columbia Law School and has been a visiting professor at Central European University in Budapest. He previously worked as a consultant for the Ford Foundation, as a project director in Romania for the Washington, DC-based International Human Rights Law Group (now Global Rights), and as an associate at Coudert Brothers. He co-founded the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in 1988. Mr. Rekosh holds a JD degree from Columbia Law School.
L9252: Human Rights, Law, and Development Workshop
