Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC (Chair 2005 - 2007) 

Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC is the founding Chair of the Equal Rights Trust. He stepped down from his post in October 2007, to avoid a conflict of interest arising from his appointment as advisor to the UK Prime Minister on constitutional reform.

Lord Lester is a practising member of Blackstone Chambers, and a Liberal Democrat Peer.  He specialises in public law and European human rights law.  He was Special Adviser to the Home Secretary (Roy Jenkins) from 1974-76 with responsibility for policy advice on human rights.  He introduced two Private Members' Bills in the Lords to incorporate the European Human Rights Convention into UK law.  He has argued many leading cases (including cases on free speech and on discrimination) not only before English courts, but also before both European courts and Commonwealth courts. He is a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and a House of Lords' European Law Scrutiny Committee.

Lord Lester is the Honorary President of INTERIGHTS (the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights), and has published numerous books and articles on constitutional law and human rights.  He is also a member of the Executive Board of the Open Society Institute Justice Initiative.

Ambassador Thomas Hammarberg (2006 - 2008)

Ambassador Thomas Hammarberg was elected Commissioner for Human Rights on 5 October 2005 by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. He took up his position on 1 April 2006, succeeding the first Commissioner, Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles. Prior to his appointment, he spent several decades working on the advancement of human rights in Europe and worldwide. He has held the key posts of Secretary General of the Stockholm-based Olof Palme International Center (2002-05), Ambassador of the Swedish Government on Humanitarian Affairs (1994-2002), Secretary General of "Save the Children" Sweden (1986-92), and Secretary General of the London-based Amnesty International (1980-86).

Mr Hammarberg also held several special positions during these years. In 2001-03, he served as Regional Adviser for Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. For several years, he was the Swedish Prime Minister's Personal Representative for the UN Special Session on Children, as well as the Convener of the Aspen Institute Roundtables on "Human Rights in Peace Missions". Between 1996 and 2000, he was Kofi Annan's appointed representative (SRSG) for human rights in Cambodia. He also participated in the work of the Refugee Working Group of the multilateral Middle East Peace Process.

Over the past 25 years, Mr Hammarberg has published widely on various human rights issues, particularly on children's rights, refugee policy, minority issues, xenophobia, Roma rights as well as international affairs and security. He is also well known for his presentations and lectures on human rights at various governmental and academic institutions.

Dr Joseph C. Schull (2006 - 2008) 

Dr Joseph C. Schull is Managing Director of the Warburg Pincus, based in London. He has been with Warburg Pincus since 1998 and is responsible for European Media and Central and Eastern Europe operations. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from McGill University, where he studied politics, philosophy and economics.

He received a D.Phil from Oxford University, where he was University Lecturer in Soviet and East European Studies from 1990 to 1991. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, he was Deputy Director for Russia and Eastern Europe at the Ford Foundation. Dr. Schull is a director of Loyalty Management U.K., Air Miles International Trading, RBMH Broadcast Media Holdings and Fibernet Communications.

Ms Sonia Picado (2006 - 2009) 

Ms Sonia Picado is Chair of the Board of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. She is a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica from San José and former President of the National Liberation Party. In 1999, she led the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor to study human rights abuses there.

She was the Costa Rican Ambassador to the United States from 1994 to 1998 and the Executive Director of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights from 1984 to 1994. During 1988 to 1994, she was Judge and Vice-Chair of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Ms. Picado was the first woman elected in Latin America as the Dean of a Law School (the University of Costa Rica) in 1980. She has taught at Salzburg, Austria, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, the University of Dayton (Ohio, US), the World University Service in Austria, and Columbia University, among others.