Giuseppe Bisconti is a senior partner of the law firm of Studio Legale Bisconti, with offices in Rome, Milan, London, and New York. Mr. Bisconti is Chair of the International Foundation for the Rule of Law and the Independence of Lawyers and Judges (F.I.D.I.A.M.) with offices in Rome, Italy and Mexico City and is also particularly active in Africa in human rights cases, and the support of the development and strengthening of bar associations and administration of justice. Mr. Bisconti is fluent in the languages of Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, with a reading knowledge of Russian. He is past President of the International Bar Association (1990-1992) and Life Member of the IBA Council. He is a member of the Permanent Senate of the European Bar Presidents Conference in Vienna, Austria, and a member of the board of the International League for Human Rights in New York, New York. Mr. Bisconti is trustee and member of the executive committee of the Center for American and International Law (formerly the Southwestern Legal Foundation) in Dallas, Texas, and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of International and Comparative Law (1996-1999). Mr. Bisconti also served as a member of the Special Advisory Committee on International Activities of the American Bar Association (SACIA) (1997-1998), and was one of the members of that committee which recommended the formation of the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights. Mr. Bisconti received his Doctor of Jurisprudence maxima cum laude from the University of Rome Law School in 1953. He also studied law at the University of Graz Law School in Austria, University of Munster Law School, in Germany, and was a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan Law School, 1956-1958 and received his L.L.M. degree from Louisiana State University Law School in 1956. He has lectured at many law schools throughout the world, and has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University Law School. Mr. Bisconti has also plead before the International Court of Justice on behalf of the United States Government. Mr. Bisconti has received high awards from the President of Italy and from the President of Austria for distinguished service to the national and international legal profession and has received the highest Portuguese civil award in recognition of his dedication and achievements for the defense of human rights in the world.