Celso Lafer (São Paulo, 1941) is a full-professor of the Law School of the
University of São Paulo, where he studied (1960-1964) and teaches since 1971
(International Law and Jurisprudence). He did his graduate studies in Political
Science at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (M.A. 1967, Ph.D 1970).
He was the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations - 2001-2002. During this
period, among many other activities, he was the head of the Brazilian
Delegation to the Doha Ministerial Meeting of the WTO, that launched the
Doha Development Round. He had previously been the Brazilian Minister of
Foreign Relations, in 1992, and as such the ex-officio vice-Chairman of the UN
Rio Conference on Environment and Development. In 1999, he was the
Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Trade.
From 1995 to 1998 he was the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Brazil
to the WTO, the UN and the specialized agencies in Geneva. In the WTO he
was, in 1996, Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, in 1997, Chairman of
the General Council, and in 1998 the Chairman of the Panel "India Quantitative Restrictions on imports of Agricultural, Textiles and Industrial
Products".
He is presently the Chairman of the Department of Jurisprudence and General
Theory of Law of the Law School of the University of São Paulo; Chairman of
the Board of the Museu Lasar Segall in São Paulo, and co-editor, with Gilberto
2
Dupas, of the review Política Externa. He was awarded a doctorate honoris causa
by the University of Buenos Aires (2001) and by the National University of
Cordoba, Argentina (2002). He is, as of 2002, a Member of the Permanent Court
of Arbitration (Hague), and as of 2003, member of the Consultative Board of the
Director-General of the WTO.
His publications include:
A Reconstrução dos Direitos Humanos (um diálogo com o pensamento de
Hannah Arendt), São Paulo, Companhia das Letras, 1988
Idem in Spanish, México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1994
Comércio, Desarmamento, Direitos Humanos experiência diplomática, São Paulo, Paz e Terra, 1999
Reflexões sobre
uma
A Identidade Internacional do Brasil e a política externa brasileira: - passado,
presente, futuro, São Paulo, Ed. Perspectiva, 2001
Idem in Spanish, with a new introduction, Buenos Aires, Fondo de Cultura
Económica, 2002
Mudam-se os Tempos - Diplomacia Brasileira 2001-2002, vol. I e vol. II, Brasília,
FUNAG/IPRI, 2002
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