RAFAEL BENITEZ

Rafael A. Benitez is the Director of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, a post to which he was appointed by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in 2020.
He has worked in the Council of Europe since 1994 and started his career in the Organisation in the field of local government. He has previously occupied other functions including: Director of Programme and Finance, Head of the Public Law Department and Head of the International Law Division.
In the Council of Europe he has also had responsibilities in the areas of administrative law and justice – participating in the drafting inter alia of the handbook « The Administration and You »; local and regional democracy – participating in the drafting of the Charter of Local Public Services and the introduction of the Country profiles on local and regional democracy; and the fight against corruption – participating in the drafting of several legal texts including the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.
He has written on international law, public administration and administrative law, public ethics and corruption. He has been a visiting lecturer at the Institute of International Relations (ITI-RI) and the International Human Rights Institute (IIDH) in Strasbourg and a member of the admissions board to the French Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA).
Prior to joining the Council of Europe he worked in the private sector, both in a law firm and a business association.