CV - Peter Vedel Kessing

Family name: Kessing
First name: Peter Vedel 
Date of birth: 11 May 1962 
Nationality: Danish
Civil Status: Married
Education: LLM, Faculty of Law, Copenhagen University (1989 - 1994). Ph.d. Counter-terrorism and human rights, Faculty of Law, Copenhagen University/Danish Institute for Human Rights (2006 - 2008).

Key Qualifications
Peter Vedel Kessing is a human rights lawyer with 20 years of professional experience gained from employment at various organizations including government agencies, a district court, several NGOs (RCT and the Danish Red Cross), the parliamentary ombudsman, an international organization (UNHCR) and an independent national human rights institution – The Danish Institute for Human Rights – where he is now employed as senior researcher.

Peter Vedel Kessing has been working with human rights issues for more than 15 years and has an in-depth knowledge on asylum and refugee legislation and practice, both academically and professionally. He has worked intensively, and on Ph. D level, with international standards on arbitrary detention; torture, inhumane and degrading treatment; and international law on terrorism. Moreover, he is member of a number of national and international expert committees on torture and terrorism.

Peter Vedel Kessing has worked as a consultant since 1997 in EU candidate countries at the time (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania), Asian countries (China, Nepal, Vietnam, Bangladesh) and Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), Honduras and Sierra Leone providing technical and legal advice in all project phases – from the design and planning phases to the evaluation and monitoring phases. He is an expert on human rights standards in the relation to criminal justice system, including international standards against torture and on arbitrary detention and fair trial. He is also a specialist in International Humanitarian Law standards, the convergence between international humanitarian law and human rights law.

Furthermore, Peter Vedel Kessing has participated in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of international projects on human rights and prevention of torture. He has managed a broad range of projects and evaluated legislation, policies, institutions and education programmes.

Main Research Interests
Peter Vedel Kessing's main research interest is on security and counter-terrorism, international human rights and international humanitarian law with a specific focus on the right to freedom from torture, arbitrary detention and the right to life.

Professional Experience

Present:Senior research fellow, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark
2008-2009Research fellow, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark
2006 -2008Ph.D.-Candidate Copenhagen University, Faculty of Law/Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark 
2005 - 2006Head of International Law Department, the Danish Red Cross, Copenhagen, Denmark. 
2004Ph.D.-Candidate, Copenhagen University, Faculty of Law/Danish Institute for Human Rights, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003 - 2004External Lecturer in International Law, Faculty of Law, Copenhagen University, Denmark.
2001 - 2004Program manager and legal consultant, the Danish Rehabilitation- and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT), Copenhagen, Denmark.
2000 - 2001Deputy judge (dommerfuldmægtig) at a District Court in Copenhagen, Denmark.
1997 - 2000Project Manager, Danish Centre for Human Rights. Appraisal, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of human rights and good governance projects.
1996Four month secondment to UNHCR's office in Riga, Latvia. Monitoring the situation for asylum seekers and refugees in Latvia. Assistance and consultancy ­in drafting of a refugee law.
1995 - 1996Member of the Danish Refugee Board (Flygtningenævnet). Judicial appeal court for asylum cases
1994 - 1999Lecturer in administrative law and good administrative practice, the Faculty of Law, Copenhagen University, Denmark
1994 - 1996

Danish Ministry of the Interior, the Department. Preparation of draft laws, orders, etc. Responsible for the ministries cooperation with the Baltic States on refugee and asylum cases.

1991 - 1993Bachelor position, The Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman, Copenhagen, Denmark.
1990 - 1991Assistant, Danish Refugee Council (NGO), Asylum Department, Copenhagen, Denmark.

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