Patrick Burgess
President at Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
Patrick Burgess is President and co-founder of Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR,) an international non-profit human rights organization based in Indonesia. He has been an advisor to civil society and government through the process of developing a national legal aid system in Indonesia since 2005 and is Senior Advisor on Criminal Justice and Legal Aid to the AIPJ program in Jakarta. He has also been the Senior Advisor on the Rule of Law for the Pyoe Pin project in Myanmar since prior to the commencement of the democratic transition. Previous positions include Senior Member and Acting Principal Member (Head) of the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal, Director of Human Rights for the UNTAET and UNMISET peacekeeping missions to Timor Leste, and Commissioner of the Timor Leste Judicial Commission. For three years he was the Principal Legal Counsel of the Timor Leste Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For five years he was Asia Director for the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ,) managing in country offices in Afghanistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Cambodia and the Solomon Islands. He is a recognized international expert and trainer on post conflict issues, transitional justice, legal aid and human rights.