Maria Clara Galvis

Maria Clara Galvis is a lawyer from the Externado University of Colombia. Professor Galvis has graduate studies in Compared Constitutional Law from the Universitá Degli Studi di Geneva. Since 2015, she has been a member of the United Nations Committee against Forced Disappearance and is currently its Vice President. Professor Galvis is also a researcher in the International Law at the Department of Constitutional Law of the Externado University of Colombia. Between 2007 and 2013, she was a senior legal advisor to the Due Process Foundation (DPLF), and from 2001 to 2007, she was a lawyer for the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL). Professor Galvis has been a consultant to the Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She has also been a consultant for international cooperation agencies such as the human rights program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the German cooperation agency (GIZ) and the Hans Seidel Foundation. In Colombia, she has been an advisor to the Procurator Delegate for Human Rights (1994-1995), the Attorney General's Office (1997-2000), the Attorney General's Office (2010-2011), assistant magistrate of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (2014-2015) and National Director of Promotion and Dissemination of Human Rights of the Ombudsman of Colombia (2016-2017). He has published academic articles and research on international human rights law, transitional justice, enforced disappearance, business, and human rights, women's rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples. She has been a professor at the Santo Tomás, Sergio Arboleda, Nacional and Javeriana universities, and a guest professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Currently Teaching

Sistema de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas (LAW-870-001)

Areas of Specialization

• International Human Rights/Humanitarian Laws
• Constitutional Law