Born on 1 February 1964 in Ağdam, Azerbaijan

• Master’s degree in International Law, Kiev State University, 1986
• Research fellow, Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, 1988-1990
• Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Law faculty, Baku State University, 1990-1996
• PhD, Kiev, 1994
• Associate Professor, Head of the International Law Department, Azerbaijan University, 1996-2001
• Doctor of Legal Sciences, Kiev, 2000
• Director of the Constitutional Law Department of the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan, 2001-2016
• Member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), 2001-2007
• Professor of Public International Law, Law faculty, Baku State University, 2002-2016
• Member of the Venice Commission, 2003-2016
• Member (2004-2015), President (2011-2015) of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
• Member of the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, 2008-2014
• Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 4 January 2017.