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Vasilis KARATZIAS

Vasilis KARATZIAS

VP Rare Diseases Greece, President, Hellenic Friedreich’s Ataxia Association, Director of the Office of Legal Advisers, NATO Rapid Deployable Corps

1. Personal Information

Commissioned with the Hellenic Armed Forces Legal Corps, in 1998. Lieutenant Colonel (since 2017), Hellenic Army, born in Katerini, Greece in 1976, married to Eleni, a math teacher for children with disabilities. He is the proud father of Maya (13) and Stavros (11), a hero of life.

2.Degrees - Diplomas

2.1 Academic

  • Master degree in Specialized Public Law (2012), Université de Bordeaux Montesquieu IV, Bordeaux, Joint Program with the Law School of Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
  • Master in Business Administration (MBA) (2011), Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece. o Law Degree (1998), Law School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

2.2 Military

  • Military Academy of Corps Officers (1998), Legal Officer with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.
  • Hellenic National Defense General Staff / School of Military Advisors, Legal advisor’s

course (2011), Legal Directors’ course (2009), 1st Lieutenants’ course (2001).

  • NATO School Oberammergau, NATO Comprehensive Operations Planning Course (2017) (certified Planner), NATO Joint Targeting Staff Course and Target Engagement Authority (2017) (certified Targeteer).
  • Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, NATO Allied Command Operations Combat Readiness Evaluations Course (certified Evaluator).

2.3 Professional Legal Training

o NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, International Law of Cyber

Operations (2015), Tallinn, Estonia o International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Naval Operations and the Law (2015),

San Remo, Italy o NATO School, Oberammergau, NATO Operational Law Course (2014), NATO Legal Advisors Course (2012), Oberammergau, Germany

2.4 Distance Learning Legal Training

NATO Supreme Allied Command Transformation, Norfolk, VA distance learning training on: Legal Aspects of Combatting Terrorism, Defence against Terrorism, NATO Rules of Engagement, Children and Armed Conflict, European Security and Defense Policy.

3. Employment

Aug 2022 – present : Conseiller Juridique / Ambassade de Grèce à Paris / Bureau Attaché de défense

Legal Advisor to the Ambassador and the Attaché de Defense. Responsible for negotiating, drafting and following international bilateral agreements. 

Nov 2013 – Aug 2022: Senior Legal Advisor and Director/ NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Greece

  • Provision of professional legal advice to the military hierarchy on legal matters during peacetime and on legal aspects in planning and conducting military operations.
  • Heading a NATO legal office in NATO exercises, member of planning groups and boards advising on international humanitarian law, on the use of force, on international administrative law, on the law of international organizations, on fiscal privileges and immunities, on the status of the forces (negotiating and concluding agreements), on human rights law and on criminal and disciplinary investigations.
  • Accredited legal evaluator and mentor having participated in NATO evaluations as a legal evaluator, evaluating NATO military Headquarters, across Europe, on specific legal criteria.

Oct 1998 – Nov 2013: Legal Advisor / Hellenic Armed Forces

A balanced legal career within the Hellenic Armed Forces appointed at different levels of command up to the Army General Staff advising on different legal areas with a focus on military law, administrative law, civilian employment law, domestic and international law applicable to the operations of the armed forces, human rights and privacy law, contract law and resource management law.

2019 – Present: NATO School Oberammergau

  • Lecturer and Exercise leader at “NATO Operations Law Course” both in resident and distance learning courses;
  • Lecturer on “Legal Aspects in the Targeting process” and on “Legal Matters in Planning Military Operations”.

2015 – Present: Hellenic Supreme Joint War College

Lecturer on the field of Legal Matters in Military Operations, on the conduct of hostilities, on the use of force, and on the EU Common Security and Defense Policy Operations Planning Course.

2014 – Present: Multinational Peace Support Operations Training Centre (Kristoni, Greece): 

  • Organizer (design, schedule, content) and lecturer in the “International Humanitarian Law Course” that has been established in MPSOTC.
  • Lecturer on the Law of Armed Conflicts, Legal Aspects of Information Operations, Peace Support Operations from the Jus ad Bellum in the Jus in Bello, Legal Aspects in Borders security and refugees.

2014 - 2017: Hellenic Air Force / Military Academy for Admin NCOs:

Lecturer on the field of Constitutional, Public and Administrative Law to military cadets (one semester per academic year).

4.List of Publications

  1. The Handbook on the Laws of Armed Conflict, Karatzias/Zalidis/Lioutas, Sakkoulas, 2022
  2. Legal aspects in the Targeting Process (2019), NATO School Oberammergau, Teaching Material as part of the NATO Operations Law Course Student Handout (scholarly work);
  3. The Status of International Military Headquarters under the scope of NATO SOFA (2019), published in NATO Legal Matters Magazine issue 3;
  4. Operating under Art. 5 of the Washington Treaty (2018), Presented during the ACO 2018 Legal Advisors Conference, published in the NRDC-GR Herald Magazine (issue …);
  5. Legal Aspects in Border Security (2017), Multinational Peace Support Operations training Centre, Teaching material as part of the Border Security Course (scholarly work);
  6. A legal response to security threats coming from NATO’s southern flank (2017), 2017 ACO Legal Advisors Conference, Ronda, Spain;
  7. The role of Legal Advisor in NATO (in Greek) (2017), presented during the 1st Hellenic Legal Advisors Conference, Athens and published in the Conferences proceedings by the Hellenic National Defense General Staff;
  8. Direct Participation of civilians in cyber hostilities in times of armed conflict (2016), presented in the 2016 NRDC-GR Legal Seminar;
  9. The interoperability between International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law in times of armed conflicts (2015), NRDC-GR 2015 Legal Conference;
  10. Conflict classification in Ukraine. Legal analysis of Russian actions in Crimea and Eastern

Ukraine (2015), NRDC-GR Ukraine Seminar 2015

  1. The role of legal Advisor in Operational Planning Process (2014), Presented in the NRDC-GR 2014 Legal Conference, published in the NRDC-GR Herald Magazine (issue ….);
  2. The legal regime applicable to Targeting. The military objective in the context of contemporary conflicts.
  3. NATOs’ Legal Architecture and Host Nation Support Agreements (2016), NRDC-GR Host Nation Support Seminar 2016
  4. Protection of civilians in times of armed conflicts, a NATO perspective (2020), NRDC-

GR Protection of Civilians Seminar, Feb 2020

  1. La problématique de l’application des droits de l’homme aux membres des forces armées en France et en Grèce dans le cadre de la Convention Européenne des Droits de l’Homme, Universite Montesquieu Bordeaux IV Faculté de Droit, MASTER II Droit Public Specialise, Bordeaux 2012 (dissertation)
  2. The relation between corporate governance and risk management during the 2008 financial crisis. The case of financial institutions, Hellenic Open University, MBA, Patra, March 2011 (dissertation)

Social work / Benevolent

Patient advocate on rare pediatric diseases.

  • Hellenic Friedreich’s Ataxia Association. President of the Board.
  • Rare Diseases Greece Federation. Vice-President of the Board.
  • Euro-ataxia Federation. Member of the Board of Directors 

Languages

  • English: Business fluent, (Proficiency in English, University of Michigan)
  • French: Proficient, (Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française, DALF C1)