Selvete Gërxhaliu- Krasniqi is a Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo.
Before her appointment to the Court, she served in different positions in international organizations, such as: NRC, WUS Austria- HRC, OSCE, UN WOMEN and UNDP, focusing mainly in three areas: (i) human rights; (ii) gender equality, domestic violence and counter trafficking in human beings, and (iii) elections.
More specifically, she has given a major contribution as UNDP Senior Advisor for Kosovo Government in establishing the Kosovo Programme on Small Arms and Light Weapons Control, addressing the legal, policy and institutional framework in line with EU aquies. While with the OSCE and UN Women, she provided technical support to the Kosovo Government in establishing Agency for Gender Equality - Office of Prime Minister. In fighting gender-based violence, she has provided technical support in drafting and reviewing the primary laws through mainstreaming gender component. She contributed to several important policy and capacity building documents, National Strategies and National Referral Mechanism on Domestic Violence, and other specific National Referral Mechanism against trafficking in human beings. Moreover, in the first Parliamentary Elections after the conflict, organized by OSCE in 2001, she served as an Election Commissioner, in the Election Commission on Appeals and Complains. As a judicial body, the task of the Commission was to ensure free and fair elections in establishing the Provisional Institutions of Self Government in Kosova.
She has a Mr.Sc , on penal law from University of Prishtina, and her doctoral theses at the Institute of International Law and International Relations, at “Karl Franzens Universität” Graz, focusing on the role of human rights law in combating transnational organized crime and international terrorism.
She is a member of the Gender Champions in Judiciary Network (GCJ Network), an informal network of judges from across the Western Balkans dedicated to strengthening the gender equality and fighting gender-based violence. The GCJ Network patrons include European Court of Human Rights President; former ECtHR President and ECtHR judges from the Balkan region. In addition, she is a member of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) in Washington DC. She also assisted civil society organizations, she has chaired the Board of the “Center for Protection of Victims and Prevention of Trafficking”, and supported the “Kosovo Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims”, as board member.
Selvete Gërxhaliu- Krasniqi lectured on several law courses. She supported the creation of a new UNI programme in technical support of the Helsinki Consulting Group, the Social Pedagogy Department, at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Prishtina. She has also lectured at the Political Science Department, EU Tempus Programme, “Local Governance and Civil Society”.
During her career, Selvete Gërxhaliu-Krasniqi has been author and co-author of several publications/researches/articles. On XVII World Law Congress, New York, she presented the paper on “Administration and Access to Justice through Technology: the Experience of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo“. On XXII International Congress on European and Comparative Constitutional Law she wrote the chapter on “Democracy as a constitutional value and its mainstreaming in court cases“. As a member of IAWJ she published an article on “Child - Inclusive Restorative Justice in Kosovo”. She has conducted research under the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission: “Human Security, Organized Crime and Terrorism Challenges in Kosovo’s Perspective“; co-author on the OSCE Manual for Social Services: “Responding to Domestic Violence Cases”; co-author of the UNICEF Report: “The Legal Framework for Child Rights in Kosovo”; Report on “Legal Options of Combating Trafficking in Human Beings at Local Level”, Kosovo Law Center/USAID; “Women Trafficking and Prostitution” – a book published in Albanian, Serbian and English; paper “Trafficking in Women, UNMIK Challenges” – published by Kosovo Law Center, and an article on “Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Article 4, Prohibition of Slavery – Advocating for Human Rights”, Zëri.