Since August 2020, Simone Cuomo is the Secretary-General of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) which is the voice of the European legal profession representing, through its members, more than 1 million European lawyers. He joined the CCBE in 2010 as Senior Legal Advisor managing a range of CCBE committees in areas of data protection as well as cross-border judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters. Besides policy advocacy towards the EU institutions, he also managed the CCBE’s activities with the Council of Europe’s European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice of the (CEPEJ) where he contributed to various papers and working groups. For many years he has been closely involved in EU policy developments as regards the digitalisation of justice, with a main focus on translating lawyers’ needs in electronic judicial proceedings, as well as procedural safeguards and the impact of novel technologies on the legal profession. Before joining the CCBE in 2010, Simone Cuomo worked for more than six years in the field of EU legal affairs for both private and public entities. Languages: Dutch, English, Italian, French, and German.

Alessandro D’Ancona – Judge, seconded the Ministry of Justice as Head of General Affairs Office at the Department for the Judicial Organisation, Personnel and Services. Coordinator and National Contact Point for EJTN Court Staff activities at the Italian Ministry of Justice.

Pedro is the CEO of IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (www.prisonsystems.eu) – a research and consulting firm specialised on justice and correctional Services. He is a member of the European Commission (‘DG JUST’) groups of experts on the Implementation of European Judicial Training Strategy and on the Implementation of the European Arrest Warrant (as alternate member). He is the founder and editor of JUSTICE TRENDS (www.justice-trends.press), a magazine on innovation and best practices in prison and probation systems. Pedro has worked on public administration reform for 20 years, and on Criminal Justice Innovation Systems in different countries. He is a board director of ICPA the International Prisons and Corrections Association (www.icpa.org); board member of the BSAFE LAB Law Enforcement, Justice and Public Safety Lab of Beira Interior University (www.bsafe-lab.org). He is also advisory board member of the “Connecting Hearts Foundation for the Children of inmates” (www.connectinghearts.eu) and founding member (and ambassador in Canada) of the ALL4INTEGRITY NGO (www.all4integrity.org/en/) and of APROXIMAR NGO (www.aproximar.pt). Over the last 2 decades, Pedro has been involved in the design and implementation of innovative pilot projects lately awarded and recognised as best practices. Pedro participated in multiple justice reform workgroups and was a member of a UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) advisory team (Vienna and Iraq). In Latin America and the Caribbean, Pedro works with the InterAmerican Development Bank (BID) in several corrections and citizen security projects in countries such as Argentina, Brazil (Ceará, Espírito Santo, Federal, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraíba), El Salvador, Guyana, the Bahamas, Uruguay, among others. Has been invited as a guest observer to European Commission, Council of Europe and EUROPRIS meetings and as a speaker in several international events organised by the Council of Europe, EUROPRIS, ICPA (International Corrections and Prisons Association), EPEA (European Prison Education Association), COMJIB (Conference of Ministers of the Justice of the Ibero-American countries), the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Commission and governments from the different Member States. In the last years, Pedro participated as invited lecturer on “penitentiary intelligence” in the “Master’s Diploma in “Strategic Management of Penitentiary Administration” and Diploma in “Strategic Management of Penitentiary Administration” jointly organized by the UNED University and the Spanish Secretary of Penitentiary Institutions. In 2017 he has was awarded with the “ICPA Correctional Excellence Award” and in 2021 was awarded the 2019 “Consultant of the Year” award by the Portuguese Association of Investment, Innovation, Technology and Management Professionals. Pedro holds a Sociology degree from UBI University and a MA from the College of Europe in Bruges, having as well other learning experiences in international universities (Digital Transformation, University of Virginia; Digital Transformation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Artificial Intelligence and Data Science for Leaders, University of Chicago). Pedro is author or co-author of several publications on topics related to criminal justice reform.