Francesco Francioni is Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the European University Institute, Florence, and at the Law Faculty of the University of Siena. He is also Co-Director of the Academy of European Law, General Editor of the Italian Yearbook of International Law and member of the Board of Editors of the European Journal of International Law. Professor Francioni is a member of the American Law Institute and of the Executive Board of the European Society of International Law.

Martin Scheinin is Professor of Constitutional and International Law and the Director of the Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University, Finland. He was a member of the Human Rights Committee acting under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights from 1997 to 2004, and since 2005 he has served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism. Professor Scheinin has acted as chairperson of the Committee on human rights law and practice within the International Law Association since 1998 and in 2003-2005 he was a member of the Expert Commission established to draft a proposal for a Nordic Saami Rights Convention.