Diego García-Sayán
Peru | Former UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers,
Former Justice, Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Diego García-Sayán is the former UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers. He previously served as a justice of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and was its president from 2010 to 2013.
García-Sayán is also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague and director general of the Andean Commission of Jurists. Previously, he was Peru’s minister of justice, helping to normalize Peru’s relationship with the Inter-American Court, and minister of foreign affairs, leading Peru’s ratification of the Rome Statute. A UN negotiator during the Guatemala peace process, García-Sayán directed the UN observer mission’s human rights division in El Salvador.
Also a professor of law at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, García-Sayán has authored books on international law, politics, and development. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including awards from the governments of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Spain. In 2013, he received the Rule of Law Award from the American Bar Association for advancing human rights and the rule of law worldwide.
García-Sayán joined the Dialogue as a Member in 1995.
