Western Law professor Anna Dolidze has been appointed Deputy Minister for Defence of the Republic of Georgia in the former Soviet Union. Dolidze will take a leave of absence from Western Law while she serves in this position.
“This position provides a unique opportunity to give back to Georgia and to contribute my knowledge and experience to it becoming a prosperous, peaceful, democratic, rights and rule of law based state,” Dolidze said. “As a legal academic I am thrilled at a chance to formulate and impact public policy within a team of highly professional and dedicated colleagues.”
Her responsibilities will primarily be in the area of human rights and will also include international relations and international law activities of the ministry, cooperation with NATO and the rights of veterans.
Dolidze received her law degree cum laude from Tbilisi State University, Masters in International Law from Leiden University and a doctorate from Cornell University.
She has served at a number of international and non-governmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the Russian Justice Initiative and Save the Children.
In 2004-06, she was president of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the largest legal advocacy organization in the Republic of Georgia. She also served at the National Constitutional Commission, Commission for Human Rights in Prisons and Expert Commission for Georgia’s European Integration.
In 2012, Dolidze joined Western Law under the Scholars at Risk Network, an initiative that brings scholars facing severe human rights abuses in their home region to positions at universities, colleges and research centers in a safe country.
Western Law was the first faculty of law in Canada to invite and host a legal scholar through this program.