Pedro Nikken

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Nikken and the second or maternal family name is Bellshaw.

Pedro Antonio Nikken Bellshaw (12 June 1945 – 9 December 2019) was a Venezuelan lawyer and jurist.^[1]

Pedro Nikken
3rd President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
In office 1983–1985
Preceded by	Carlos Roberto Reina
Succeeded by	Thomas Buergenthal
Personal details
Born	(1945-06-12)12 June 1945 Caracas, Venezuela
Died	9 December 2019(2019-12-09) (aged 74) Caracas, Venezuela
Alma mater	Andrés Bello Catholic University University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas University of Carabobo

Background

He studied law at the Andrés Bello Catholic University Law School, graduating in 1968. In 1973 he obtained a diploma from higher studies at the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas and in 1977, a doctorate in law from the University of Carabobo.^[2]

Career

He was professor and dean of the Faculty of Juridical and Political Sciences of the Central University of Venezuela.^[3]

Between October 1979 and 1989 he was judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, being also its vice president between 1981 and 1983, and president between 1983 and 1985.^[4] In 1988 he was vice president of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.^[5]

In the 1990s, the United Nations appointed him as legal advisor to the mediation that ended the Salvadoran Civil War.^[6][7]

Since 1997 he was a member of the Academy of Political and Social Sciences of Venezuela.^[8]

In 2017 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires.^[9]

References

1. Murió Pedro Nikken (in Spanish)
2. Juez, Pedro Nikken (in Spanish)
3. Pedro Nikken: El jurista de los Derechos Humanos (in Spanish)
4. La Corte IDH comunica el sensible fallecimiento del Expresidente de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Pedro Nikken (in Spanish)
5. El ex presidente de la Corte IDH e IIDH, el jurista venezolano Pedro Nikken fue elegido... (in Spanish)
6. Pedro Nikken, expresidente de la CIDH: "La fuerza armada es otra vez el gran árbitro" en Venezuela (in Spanish)
7. Muere el venezolano Pedro Nikken, un defensor irrepetible (in Spanish)
8. Dr. Pedro Nikken (in Spanish)
9. La Universidad de Buenos Aires distinguió a Pedro Nikken como doctor honoris causa (in Spanish)