IntLawGrrl Anna Dolidze has been appointed Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Defence. Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli said at Anna’s appointment on May 15, 2015, “The main criterion for my choice is high professionalism. Her main direction will be human rights: everything connected with the wounded soldiers, our soldiers who serve abroad, the families of the fallen heroes.”

As part of her new role, Anna will be taking a leave of absence from her role as Professor of Law at the University of Western Ontario. Prior to joining Western Law, Anna served at a number of international and non-governmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the Russian Justice Initiative, and Save the Children. From 2004 to 2006, Anna was the President of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the largest legal advocacy organization in the Republic of Georgia. She also served at the National Constitutional Commission, Commission for the Human Rights in Prisons and the Expert Commission for Georgia’s European Integration.

Anna has taught and lectured at Duke University, Helsinki España-Human Dimension in Madrid, Sorbonne University in Paris, and Elmira Maximum Security Correctional Facility in New York State. She has co-authored a series of policy reports including a UN-sponsored report on the privatization of the internally displaced persons’ collective settlements (2005) and a policy proposal for the establishment of a truth commission in Georgia published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2012). In 2012-2013 Anna was a Joachim Herz Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy of the German Marshall Fund, having contributed to the Academy’s annual report The Democratic Disconnect: Citizenship and Accountability in the Transatlantic Community. Heartfelt congratulations, Anna!

(All photos courtesy Anna Dolidze.)