Membership and Bureau

Member States of the CCPCJ

The Commission is composed of 40 Member States elected by the Economic and Social Council, with the following distribution of seats among the regional groups: 

(a) Twelve for African States;

(b) Nine for Asian States;

(c) Eight for Latin American and Caribbean States;

(d) Four for Eastern European States;

(e) Seven for Western European and other States.

The term of office for Commission Members is three years.

CCPCJ Bureau and Extended Bureau

In order to function effectively, the Commission needs to organize and prepare its work carefully and in advance. Such tasks are carried out by the Bureau and the Extended Bureau of the Commission, which play an active role in the preparation of the regular and the inter-sessional meetings with the assistance of the Secretariat.

The Bureau of the Commission is composed of the Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons and one Rapporteur. At the end of its reconvened session, the Commission elects its Bureau for the next session. The Extended Bureau also includes the Chairpersons of the five regional groups, the European Union and the Group of 77 and China.

Bureau of the CCPCJ at its 30th session

Chair

H.E. Mr. Alessandro Cortese of Italy (Group of Western European and Other States)

1st Vice-Chair

H.E. Mr. Takeshi Hikihara of Japan (Group of Asia-Pacific States)

2nd Vice-Chair

H.E. Ms. Teodolinda Rosa Rodrigues Coelho of Angola (Group of African States)

3rd Vice-Chair

vacant (Group of Eastern European States)

Rapporteur

Mr. Carlos Alberto Garcia Reyes of Guatemala (Group of Latin American and Caribbean States)

Chair of the 30th session of the CCPCJ

Born in Rome on 16 October 1960, H.E. Mr. Alessandro Cortese, Permanent Representative of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna, graduated in Law from the University of Rome (“La Sapienza”) in 1984 and entered the Italian Diplomatic Service in March 1986.

He initially served at the Secretariat of the Development Cooperation Department of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and was then assigned to the General Secretariat of the MFA in 1988. 

From 1989 to 1993 he was Head of the Commercial Office at the Italian Embassy in Pretoria (South Africa). He was then seconded to the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, where he worked at the Directorate for Political Cooperation, and subsequently at the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Directorate (as Head of the OSCE – Council of Europe desk, also in charge of the “Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe”). 

In 1995 he was assigned to the Italian Permanent Mission to the EU as CFSP Counsellor and he was Chairman of the EU CFSP Counsellors Working Party and co-Chairman of the Former-Yugoslavia Working Group during the Italian EU Presidency in 1996.

In October 1997 he returned to Italy as Head of one of the desks in the Press Department of the MFA, where he was responsible for the relations with Italian and foreign media as well as for the website management and technological improvements within the Department.

In 1999 he was once more seconded to the General Secretariat of the EU Council in Brussels, as Head of the Western Balkans Unit. From 2002 to 2006 he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Ottawa.

Back in Rome, he returned to the Press Department of the MFA as Deputy Head. In May 2008 he was appointed Diplomatic Advisor of the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament.

In July 2012 he was posted to Brussels as Permanent Representative to the Political and Security Committee of the EU.

Upon his return to Rome in early 2017, he first served as Coordinator for the Italian 2018 OSCE Chairmanship and then as Deputy Director General for Political Affairs and Principal Director for Security at the MFA. In June 2018 he was appointed Head of the Press Department and Spokesperson of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Since 11 November 2019 he is the Permanent Representative of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna.

Ambassador Cortese is married and has a son.