Päivi Hirvelä

Päivi Hirvelä handles civil and criminal cases. She has a wide range of experience in the judiciary, most recently as a legal adviser to the Supreme Court. Previously, she has served as a legal counsel, state prosecutor, district court judge and as a judge in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Päivi’s doctoral thesis was on criminal procedure in sexual offences against children and she has published works on human rights.

Positions in professional bodies

Expert member of GREVIO, the monitoring body of the Istanbul Convention 2022–
Ad hoc judge of Finland, the European Court of Human Rights 2017–
Substitute Member of the Venice Commission in respect of Finland 2018–2022
Sub-working group member of EJTN Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 2016–2022
Substitute Member of CCJE (Consultative Council of European Judges) 2016–2022

Language skills: Finnish, English, Swedish

Master of Laws, University of Helsinki 1980
Master of Laws with court training 1982
Licentiate of Laws, University of Helsinki 1997
Doctor of Laws, University of Helsinki 2007
Docent, University of Lapland 2014
Docent, University of Helsinki 2015
Docent, University of Turku 2016
Publications: On criminal proceedings in sexual crimes against children (doctoral dissertation 2006); Human Rights, Handbook to EIT case law (Edita 2013, Alma Talent 2017); Media professionals and penalties of defamation (article, 2012); Right to a Fair Trial: A Practical Guide to the Article 6 Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights (Intersentia 2021); Right to Respect for Private and Family Life, Home and Correspondence: A Practical Guide to Article 8 Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights (Intersentia 2022), inter alia.