Olivier Peter

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Olivier Peter
Judici a la Democracia 190114 7116 dc (39785620643) (cropped).jpg
Olivier Peter at the Supreme Court of Spain in the Trial of Catalonia independence leaders (Madrid, 2019)
Born
Olivier Peter

(1986-01-20) 20 January 1986 (age 39)
Zurich
Switzerland
Citizenship Switzerland
Alma mater University of Geneva
Occupation(s)Lawyer
International lawyer
Employer(s)Interdroit
Peter & Moreau
Organization(s)Association of Progressive Lawyers
Swiss Society of International Law
Swiss Society of Criminal Law
Swiss Society of Jurists
Known forDel Río Prada v. Spain
Portu Juanenea and Sarasola Yarzabal v. Spain
Trial of Catalonia independence leaders
Board member of World Organisation Against Torture
Council of Europe Network on Legal Assistance to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings

Olivier Peter (born 20 January 1986) is a Swiss lawyer, university teacher and legal activist. [1] He specialises in human rights, international criminal law and extraditions. [2]

Contents

As an international human rights lawyer he has participated in cases such as Del Río Prada v. Spain (2013), Portu Juanenea and Sarasola Yarzabal v. Spain (2018), Jordi Cuixart case (2020) or the case against the Hinduja Group (2024).

Early life and education

Peter was born on 20 January 1986 in Zurich (Switzerland). He got a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Geneva in 2011. [3] He subsequently obtained his legal practice certification in 2012. In 2014, after passing the Swiss bar examination, he obtained his lawyer license. [4]

He is a member of the Geneva Bar Association. He specializes in human rights, international criminal law and extraditions. As a lawyer, he collaborates in the defense of activists and political prisoners in Europe, Turkey, and Latin America. [4]

He has also been a university teacher of Law at the University of Geneva. [4]

Career

Peter, along with Swiss lawyer Rafaël Roux, founded the international law firm Interdroit in Zurich. Years later, he founded the Peter & Moreau law firm with Swiss lawyer Céline Moreau, where he now works as a partner lawyer. [4]

In 2012, at just 26 years old and having just obtained his law license, he took his first major case before the European Court of Human Rights. In 2013, he participated as a lawyer in the Del Río Prada v. Spain case before the European Court of Human Rights, defending Inés del Río, and successfully succeeded in getting the ECHR to repeal the Parot doctrine for "violating the right to liberty of prisoners who have served their sentences." [5] [6] [7]

In 2018, Peter was the lawyer in the case of Portu Juanenea and Sarasola Yarzabal v. Spain before the ECHR and obtained a conviction for "degrading and inhuman" treatment by the Civil Guard. [8] [9]

Peter acted as defense attorney for Jordi Cuixart, former president of Òmnium Cultural, taking his case to the United Nations (UN). [10] [11] [12] Shortly after, he also took on the legal defense of former MP Anna Gabriel, in which he managed to have the politician's extradition denied due to the political crimes involved. [4] [13] [14] [15] Peter was also one of the international observers at the Trial of Catalonia independence leaders before the Spanish Supreme Court. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

In 2016, Peter joined two hundred other legal scholars from across Europe in a manifesto in support of Palestinian rights, along with other figures such as John Dugard, Geoffrey Bindman, Alain Pellet, Guy Goodwin-Gill, Michael Mansfield, and Géraud de la Pradelle. [21] [22]

In 2024 Peter represented one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleging labor exploitation, abuse, and human trafficking against the Hinduja family and the Hinduja Group. [23] [24]

In 2025 he represented Libyan national Al-Sharigy, a victim of gender-based violence, in her appeal to the UN CEDAW Committee against systemic failures in state protection. [25] In retaliation for helping her mother and sisters flee domestic violence and taking legal action against her father and relatives, she was subjected to threats, torture, abduction and sexual violence, and was forced to flee on her own without state assistance, in violation of CEDAW. [25]

Peter is a member of the Executive Council of the World Organization Against Torture (WOAT), of the thematic advisory board of the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH), and of the Council of Europe Network on Legal Assistance to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings. He is also a member of the Association of Progressive Lawyers, the Swiss Society of International Law, the Swiss Society of Criminal Law, and the Swiss Society of Jurists.

Publications

References

  1. ↑ "Olivier Peter, militant du droit". Tribune de Genève (in French). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  2. ↑ "Olivier Peter: "La comunitat internacional no pot tancar els ulls davant la detenció arbitrària de líders polítics i socials"". Òmnium Cultural (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  3. ↑ "Olivier Peter - Faculté de droit - UNIGE". www.unige.ch (in French). 10 April 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Olivier Peter, el abogado suizo de Anna Gabriel". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 February 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  5. ↑ PLAZA, ANA MARTÍN (21 October 2013). "Estrasburgo confirma la condena a España por la 'doctrina Parot' y exige excarcelar a Inés del Río". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  6. ↑ Ayuso, Silvia; López-Fonseca, Óscar (23 October 2018). "Estrasburgo avala que España no compute las condenas de etarras en Francia". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  7. ↑ comentarios, 175 comentariosVer (22 February 2018). "Olivier Peter, asesor de Anna Gabriel, es el abogado en Estrasburgo de los etarras de la T-4". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Belaza, Mónica Ceberio (14 February 2018). "El Tribunal de Derechos Humanos condena a España por trato inhumano y degradante a los terroristas de la T4". El País (in Spanish). ISSN   1134-6582 . Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  9. ↑ Guenaga, Iker Rioja Andueza, Aitor (13 February 2018). "España deberá indemnizar a los etarras de la T4 por malos tratos policiales". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ ACN. "L'advocat de Cuixart reclama al Relator de l'ONU pel dret d'associació que pressioni Espanya per alliberar els presos - 10 juliol 2020". El Punt Avui (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Olivier Peter: «Som optimistes: veiem una condemna d'Estrasburg a Espanya»". Nació (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "España: La condena por sedición a Jordi Sànchez y Jordi Cuixart, una amenaza a los derechos a la libertad de expresión y de reunión pacífica". Amnistía Internacional (in Spanish). 19 November 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "Catalan politician Anna Gabriel defies court summons". 20 February 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  14. ↑ ""El delicte polític és el delicte de la gent honesta"". directa.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  15. ↑ Diego, Sara de (22 February 2018). "El abogado de Anna Gabriel: "Su extradición es imposible. De momento, no volverá"". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  16. ↑ CCMA. Més 324 - Olivier Peter: "El sistema judicial espanyol no respecta el dret internacional" - 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025– via www.3cat.cat.
  17. ↑ "El abogado Olivier Peter ve la ONU "preocupada" por las vulneraciones en España". ElNacional.cat (in Spanish). 22 January 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Olivier Peter, abogado de Cuixart: "El juicio del Procés tiene que acabar con la condena del estado español en Europa"". Ara en Castellano (in Spanish). 15 June 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "L'advocat de Cuixart denuncia "la manca d'imparcialitat" del Suprem en un acte a l'ONU". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 13 March 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  20. ↑ CCMA. "Catalunya nit - Olivier Peter, penalista internacional: "Espanya està sacrificant credibilitat i imatge al món"". 3Cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  21. ↑ Admin (8 December 2016). "200 European Legal Scholars Uphold the Right to Boycott Israel for Palestinian Rights". Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  22. ↑ "Groundbreaking statement by 200 European Legal Scholars Upholds the Right to BDS for Palestinian Rights". BDS Movement. Archived from the original on 27 September 2025. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  23. ↑ Miller, Hugo (14 June 2024). "Hinduja family staff settle civil lawsuit over domestic workers' exploitation allegations". The Economic Times. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  24. ↑ Miller, Hugo (14 June 2024). "Hinduja Family Staff Settle Civil Lawsuit Over Domestic Workers' Exploitation Allegations". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  25. 1 2 "Complaint to UN Challenges Libya on Gender-Based Violence". OMCT. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  26. ↑ www.funtsak.com, Funtsak-Diseño y Programación Web-. "Amnistia". www.tigredepaper.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
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