The Register’s Board has general responsibility for the exercise of the Register’s functions. Comprised of at least seven experts in the fields of international law, war damages and claims, accounting and loss assessment. The Board develops the rules and regulations governing the work of the Register, that shall be subsequently approved by the Conference of Participants.

The Board has the ultimate authority in determining the eligibility of claims to be recorded in the Register. Board members are independent, work in their personal capacities and are not representatives of any Participant or Associate Members.

Seven Board members were appointed at the third meeting of the Conference of Participants on 16 November 2023.

Robert Spano, Iceland, Chair of the Board

Robert Spano is a Partner at Gibson Dunn. He is a leading expert in public international law, business and human rights law and the European Convention on Human Rights. He is the former President of the European Court of Human Rights. Robert is a visiting Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and serves part-time as a tenured Professor of Law at the University of Iceland, where he served as dean of the faculty.

Dr Chiara Giorgetti, Italy, Vice-Chair of the Board

Chiara Giorgetti is Professor of Law at Richmond Law School and Senior Fellow at the International Claims and Reparations Project at Columbia Law School. She in an expert in international dispute resolution and public international law with over twenty-five years of practical experience and an extensive list of publications. She served as counsel and expert at the UN Compensation Commission, the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, and numerous other international disputes.

Dr Veijo Heiskanen, Finland

Veijo Heiskanen is an independent arbitrator associated with Arbitra International. He has been practicing international arbitration, including commercial and investment arbitration, for over 25 years, as counsel and arbitrator. Veijo previously served as Secretary General of the Claims Resolution Tribunal (Zurich), Deputy Chief of the Legal Service of the United Nations Compensation Commission and Legal Adviser at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal.

Yulia Kyrpa, Ukraine

Yulia Kyrpa is an Executive Partner AEQUO, a leading Ukrainian law firm. She is a renowned lawyer focused on international finance law, international arbitration, foreign investments to Ukraine and legal aspects of the reconstruction of Ukraine. Yulia represented numerous times the European Commission, EBRD, IFC, KfW and USAID on international financial transactions aimed at supporting key industries of the Ukrainian economy and worked on many policy-shaping initiatives. She co-authored several fundamental laws on Ukraine and acted as an independent expert in various arbitration tribunals.

Aleksandra Mężykowska, Poland

Aleksandra Mężykowska is an Associate Professor at the Department of Constitutional Law and European Research at the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a Legal Expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. She has experience 15 years of experience as Co-Agent of Poland before the European Court of Human Rights.  As part of her academic research, Aleksandra has analysed the financial responsibility of CEE countries under the restitution and reprivatisation laws, with a particular emphasis on the standard of compensation.

Lucy Reed, United States of America

Lucy Reed is an independent arbitrator. She has played an active role in international claims processes, including as U.S. Agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, Assistant Deputy Legal Adviser for International Claims and Investment Disputes with the U.S. State Department, Co-Director of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland (a Holocaust claims tribunal), and Commissioner on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Tribunal.  After a career as an international disputes advocate, Lucy served as Director of the Centre for International Law and Professor of Practice at the National University of Singapore.

Dr Norbert Wühler, Germany

Norbert Wühler is an expert advisor on claims, reparations and property restitution. He has 40 years of practical experience in claims, reparation and restitution programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Germany, Iraq, Kenya, Kosovo, Nepal, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen. He was a Legal Adviser and Deputy Secretary-General at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, Chief of the Legal Service of the UN Compensation Commission, Director of Claims and Compensation Programs at IOM, and a Member of the Kosovo Property Claims Commission. Norbert currently serves on the Board of the Global Survivors Fund.

The Board members were appointed for a term of office of three years, renewable once. The appointed Board members have vast expertise in the fields of international law and reparations and have experience from setting up and working with mass claims programs based in international law.

The Board met for its inaugural meeting on 11-15 December 2023 in The Hague and will continue to meet in person on a quarterly basis and virtually in between. The Board will also provide quarterly reports to the COP on the number of claims received and the number of eligible claims recorded in the Register, the relevant categories and the total amount of compensation sought (if applicable).