2026 European Convening

Christian Heinz is the Hessian Minister of Justice and for the Rule of Law. He has served as a member of the Hessian State Parliament since 2010, and a deputy member of the Bundesrat since 2024.  Minister Heinz studied law at the University of Mainz.  After completing a legal clerkship at the Regional Court of Wiesbaden. in 2002, he joined the Hessian civil service, working at the Hessian State Chancellery and the Hessian Ministry of the Interior, among state agencies.

Andrej Nosko is PILnet’s Co-Executive Director. Prior to joining PILnet, Andrej was head of a division at an international foundation overseeing portfolios on policy research, innovation, democracy, governance, anti-corruption, and law enforcement. There he also spearheaded design, innovation and uptake of new technologies in research and communication. Andrej also worked for the European Commission on law enforcement and internal security. Nosko received his PhD (Summa Cum Laude) in political science from Central European University in Budapest.

His professional interests include resilience of civil society and human rights defenders and future of democracy, as well as Environment and Climate Justice, Environmental, Social, and (Corporate) Governance (ESG), and the related societal, energy and industrial transition.

Estelle Massé is a Policy Officer at the Fundamental Rights Policy and Free Movement Unit of the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commission where she particularly focuses on civic space. Estelle first joined the European Commission as part of DG Justice’s International Affairs and Data Flows Unit. Before that, she was the Global Data Protection Lead at the international NGO Access Now, where her work focused on the protection of human rights online with a specific focus on data protection, privacy, and surveillance policies. Estelle graduated with a Masters degree in European Law from the University of Granada, Spain.

Dr. Filip Czernicki, Attorney-at-Law, graduated from the Warsaw University Law School where he obtained his master degree and PhD. Besides his academic and business career he works on structural development and promotion of professional lawyers pro bono activity, as well as improvement of legal education through practical skills teaching and establishment of legal clinics in Poland and Eastern Europe. Since 2018 he has been the Coordinator of the Warsaw Bar Association of Attorneys-at-Law pro bono programs. Since 2015, has been a member of the National Legal Aid Council, which is the advisory body to the Minister of Justice of Poland. Beginning in 2002, he has been the President of the Polish Legal Clinics Foundation and member of the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Justice Education. He was awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland with the Gold Cross of Merit in 2013, received from the Global Network for Public Interest Law - European Pro Bono Award in 2012, and received a Medal of the Minister of Justice for the merits for the Polish judiciary in 2010.

Atanas Politov is Dentons’ Europe Director of Positive Impact and Pro Bono, based in the firm’s Budapest office. He joined the firm in September 2016 to coordinate Dentons’ pro bono work across continental Europe. Atanas was also heading the Dentons Europe Diversity & Inclusion Committee and the law firm’s ESG program. Before joining Dentons, Atanas was PILnet’s Director for Programs and was responsible for managing PILnet’s pro bono and access to justice efforts globally. Previously, he developed large-scale anti-discrimination and legal aid reform projects in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans and oversaw the development of PILnet’s pro bono efforts in China, Hungary, Russia, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and Poland. Atanas has a Law degree from Sofia University, Bulgaria, and an LLM’02 from Columbia Law School, NYC.

Nataliya Novakova serves as the Executive Director of the Civil Society Forum (CSF). With over 15 years’ experience advancing human rights and democratic initiatives across Europe and Eurasia, she champions the organisation’s strategic vision for a resilient civil society. Nataliya’s career is rooted in grassroots activism, starting with Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity. Most recently, she led the Europe division of the International Detention Coalition (IDC), advocating for the rights of people on the move. Her extensive leadership background includes pivotal roles at the Open Society Foundations, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the German Marshall Fund. Throughout her career, Nataliya has remained a steadfast advocate for justice, migration reform, and democratic integrity

Simon Papuashvili is a human rights lawyer with over 15 years of experience working across Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and broader Eurasia. He currently serves as Programme Director at the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), where he leads multi-country programmes focused on accountability for serious human rights violations, protection of human rights defenders, and countering authoritarian influence and democratic backsliding in the broader European region. Simon oversees complex international projects combining strategic litigation, investigations (including OSINT), legal analysis, and policy advocacy, and works closely with civil society actors, lawyers, and exiled communities across Europe, including in conflict-affected contexts.

Andrej Nosko is PILnet’s Co-Executive Director. Prior to joining PILnet, Andrej was head of a division at an international foundation overseeing portfolios on policy research, innovation, democracy, governance, anti-corruption, and law enforcement. There he also spearheaded design, innovation and uptake of new technologies in research and communication. Andrej also worked for the European Commission on law enforcement and internal security. Nosko received his PhD (Summa Cum Laude) in political science from Central European University in Budapest.

His professional interests include resilience of civil society and human rights defenders and future of democracy, as well as Environment and Climate Justice, Environmental, Social, and (Corporate) Governance (ESG), and the related societal, energy and industrial transition.

Jasmine Simperingham is currently the Program Director: Forced Displacement with PILnet. Jasmine leads the organization's work engaging the global legal community to put the power of the law to work with and for refugees, stateless, and other displaced people. Jasmine is particularly interested in people-centered pro bono and the intersection between access to justice and the meaningful participation of those with lived experience of displacement and statelessness in policy making and decisions that affect their lives. She joined the team in September 2020 and works remotely from Geneva. Jasmine has over 20 years of international experience in the humanitarian, human rights, and justice sectors. This includes more than 8 years experience with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well as roles with government authorities in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Jasmine holds a Master of Laws (Hons), a Bachelor of Arts, and a Bachelor of Laws. Jasmine is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.

Dr. Şengül Çelik is a philosopher and bioethicist with over fifteen years of experience in academia, research, and socially engaged practice. Her work bridges applied ethics, bioethics, and social justice, focusing on human rights, migration, and social inclusion. She earned her PhD from Middle East Technical University and was a research associate in bioethics at the University of Mannheim through the Philipp Schwartz Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2019–2022). Currently an integration coach and lecturer at GFFB, Germany, she is a member of RAB Germany (since 2025) and took an active role in the 2025 Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, participating extensively in program tracks led by Caritas, Diakonie, and UNHCR on refugee protection and ethical social integration.

Riccardo Viviani is an Associate Legal Officer at UNHCR’s Representation for EU Affairs, where he works on UNHCR’s engagement with legal and judicial actors across Europe to advance refugee protection. He focuses on strategic litigation and drafts UNHCR’s interventions before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights, and national courts and tribunals. Riccardo holds a law degree from the University of Turin and an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex, and he is a qualified lawyer in Italy.

Cecilia Vejby Andersen heads the Global & EU Asylum unit at the Asylum Department with the Danish Refugee Council. The unit offers legal representation to asylum seekers in the Danish Dublin-procedure and engages in EU advocacy within the asylum & migration area. Furthermore, it provides technical advisory capacity to DRCs legal aid programmes globally. Cecilia has, since its beginning in 2019, been a core group member of the GRF Legal Community pledge.

Rana is a lawyer and advocate specialising in refugee law, human rights, and migration working with refugees and migrants for almost 20 years in Europe and the Asia Pacific regions. Rana joined IDC as the Europe Programme Officer in November 2024 and previously worked with the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, Asylum Access and the Jesuit Refugee Service as well as several years in practice as a lawyer in the United Kingdom. Rana has represented many individuals held in immigration detention in several countries and has seen effective alternatives to detention in practice.

Francesco Zatelli leads Pro Publico, the Brussels-based clearinghouse connecting a variety of civil society actors with top law firms & public affairs consultancies volunteering their expertise and advice pro bono publico: free of charge for the public good. The objective is to empower grassroots movements, CSOs, civic start-ups, social enterprises and think-tanks with free high-quality legal & public affairs assistance in consideration of their societal impact. Francesco's background is in corporate and investment counseling, where he gained experience in legal and fiscal matters as well as business development and sustainability. His alma mater is the University of Bologna. He has also studied at King's College London, at Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, and at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

Speaker: Building Legal Resilience to SLAPPs, October 21 Charlie Holt is a legal adviser to Greenpeace International, where he focuses in particular on strategies to tackle deforestation and to build resilience to SLAPPs. Until 2018 Charlie's main focus had been in the US, where he helped with the formation of the anti-SLAPP coalition Protect the Protest. Since then he has been focusing efforts in Europe, working with a broad network of advocacy groups to build the resilience of public watchdogs to SLAPPs across the continent. Prior to joining the Legal Unit at Greenpeace International, he worked as a legal consultant in Somaliland, where he worked with government ministries and state institutions to build up the territory's justice sector in line with international human rights standards. Charlie is a member of the Bar of England & Wales and holds an LL.M. degree in international human rights law.

Maria Cristina Mundin leads International Lawyers Project's Environment and Sustainable Development programme. She is a Philippine-qualified lawyer and holds a Master's degree in Environmental Law at Queen Mary University of London. Cristina started her legal career working in the Office of the Solicitor General, where she defended the constitutionality of laws and state policies. Later on, she worked as a Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of the Philippines. As a law lecturer, she taught environmental and natural resources law and administrative law. With over ten years experience in legal practice, she has worked with grassroots communities and civil society groups from around the world to address issues on climate change, energy transition, natural resource governance, and biodiversity.

Judit Geller is a Legal Program Manager based in PILnet’s Budapest office. Judit is an experienced human rights lawyer who has been leading strategic litigation and legal advocacy challenging human rights abuses and discrimination of Roma in Europe. Prior to joining PILnet, as a senior lawyer for the European Roma Rights Centre, Judit represented victims of discrimination at domestic courts, at the European Court of Human Rights and UN Treaty bodies, focusing on advancing equality and access to justice for women and children. Working as a senior legal manager at PILnet, Judit is engaged in promoting pro bono legal practice in Europe and developing and implementing pro bono projects with the view of using law to bring social change and making law work for all, including the most excluded and vulnerable. Judit holds a Master Degree in Law, an LLM in Children’s Rights, and a BA in Public Administration and is admitted to the Budapest Bar of Hungary.

Amy Rose is General Counsel with ClientEarth’s governance and legal services functions, supporting their mission to use the power of law to drive systemic change for people and the planet. She is a legal specialist with global in-house, law firm, and non-profit experience, focused on governance, risk, compliance, litigation, negotiation, and advocacy.