Advocate Vrinda Grover appointed member of UN Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine

Advocate Vrinda Grover has been appointed a member of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022..The three-person Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was constituted on March 4, 2022 with a mandate to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law, and related crimes in the context of the aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.On April 4, 2023, the Council renewed the mandate of the Commission for a further period of one year.Grover's appointment to the Commission was made by President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Václav Bálek (Czechia) and was communicated via a press release. .The press release highlighted Grover's expertise stating that she is a practicing advocate in India and has more than 34 years of experience in constitutional law, criminal law, and human rights. She has appeared as counsel in landmark cases before trial courts, high courts and the Supreme Court of India as well as before commissions of inquiry and quasi-judicial authorities, the press release added..Grover obtained her law degree from Delhi University and her Master's in Law from New York University. She has been active in the women's rights and human rights movements in India.She has contributed to the drafting of laws to protect women and children from domestic violence and sexual violence, besides advocating for laws prohibiting torture and legislation for protection against communal and targeted violence..She has been practicing as an independent lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, the High Courts and the trial courts in India since 1989, and specialises in criminal law, women’s rights and human rights.She is regularly invited at training institutions for police, bureaucracy and judicial academies. She was among the 100 most influential people in the world in a report by Time magazine in 2013..Grover will join Erik Møse (Norway) and Pablo de Greiff (Colombia) who have been serving as Chair and Commissioner of the Commission of Inquiry since March 2022.The Commission is scheduled to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fourth session (September 2023), to submit a report to the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session (October 2023), and to submit a comprehensive report to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fifth session (March 2024).