Mikiko Otani | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 November 1964 |
| Citizenship | Japan |
| Occupation(s) | Former Chairperson & Member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child International Human Rights Lawyer |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Sophia University (LLB) Columbia University (MIA) University of Tokyo (LLM) Aoyama Gakuin University (Doctor of Law) |
| Thesis | Right to Remedies of Child Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (2020) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Human rights law |
| Sub-discipline | Child law |
| Institutions | Leiden University |
| Main interests | Children's rights,juvenile criminal justice,privacy of children,human rights |
Mikiko Otani (born November 18,1964) is a Japanese international human rights lawyer,and women's and children's rights advocate. [1] She has been a member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) since 2017 and served as its chairperson from May 2021 to May 2023 [2] succeeding Ann Marie Skelton. She is the Rotating Honorary Chair in Enforcement of Children's Rights (2023/2024) at Leiden University. [3]
Otani is a trustee at 5Rights Foundation, [4] an organisation founded by Baroness Beeban Kidron to promote the rights of the child online.
She was born in Osaka Prefecture. [5] She obtained a Bachelor of Law (LL.B) in international legal studies from Sophia University in Japan in 1987 [6] and a Master of International and Public Affairs (M.I.A) in human rights and humanitarian affairs from Columbia University,School of International and Public Affairs in the United States in 1999, [6] [7] Master of Law (LL.M) in public international law from University of Tokyo,Graduate School of Law and Politics in Japan in 2003. [6] [7]
She completed her Doctor of Law in public international law from Aoyama Gakuin University,Graduate School of Law in Japan, [8] [9] and received a PhD in Law in 2020 with the dissertation titled "Right to Remedies of Child Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law". [9]
Otani started her career as a practicing lawyer (attorney at law) when she was admitted to the Tokyo Bar Association in 1990. [7] [10] While practicing law,she has actively been involved in NGO activities for international human rights work for children and women in Japan and Asia-Pacific. She served as a mediator at the Tokyo Family Court since 2003. [10] She was appointed as an alternate representative of the Japanese delegation to the 60th and 61st General Assembly in 2005 and 2006,as a Vice-President of the Japan Women’s Bar Association at the time. [11] [12]
In 2016,she was nominated by the government of Japan as a candidate for a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,a treaty monitoring body for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. [13] [14] In 2017,she became the first Japanese member of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Committee. [15]
In May 2021,she was elected as Chairperson of the CRC for the term from May 2021 to May 2023. [16] During the chairperson’s term,she actively supported the promotion of mainstreaming of child rights throughout the United Nations system. [17]
She currently holds leadership positions in child rights and human rights civil society organizations,which include President of Child Rights Connect, [18] a member of the Board of Trustees of the Child Rights Coalition Asia, [19] Commissioner and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Commission of Jurists. [20]