Fernando Vaz Ventura is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice of Portugal (2023–present), where he primarily hears criminal cases.
He previously served on the Constitutional Court of Portugal (2012–2021), having been elected by Parliament for the legally fixed, full nine-year term. He also played a leading role in judicial training as Director (2022–2025), Deputy Director (2010–2011), and earlier trainer (1990–1995; 2001–2004) at the Center for Judicial Studies (CEJ), the body responsible for the recruitment and initial and continuing training of all Portuguese judges and public prosecutors.
Before entering the judiciary, he worked in accounting. He earned his law degree from the University of Lisbon in 1984 and was appointed judge in 1987. He served in several first-instance courts (Setúbal, Graciosa, Fornos de Algodres, Elvas, and Lisbon), later becoming Presiding Judge of the Lisbon Criminal Court (1991–2007). He then sat in the criminal sections of the Courts of Appeal of Coimbra, Guimarães, and Lisbon (2007–2023). He was promoted to the Supreme Court of Justice after placing first in the competition organized for that purpose by the High Council for the Judiciary.
Internationally, he completed judicial training placements in the United Kingdom as a visiting judge nominated by the European Association of Judges, working with Sir Richard Aikens PC at the High Court of Justice and the Central Criminal Court in London (2005), and later at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh with Lord Philip Brodie QC PC (2006).
He has worked with major multilateral institutions. Under a United Nations program, he trained the first cohort of judges and prosecutors in Timor-Leste (2002). He was Portugal’s national expert to the OECD Working Group on Bribery (2006–2007) and to the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) (2010). For the European Commission, he coordinated missions in West Africa under the Expert Support Facility to combat drug trafficking (2008–2009), and he served as Portugal’s expert in drafting the EU Directive on the European Investigation Order (2010–2011).
He represented the Portuguese judges’ association in the International Association of Judges and the European Association of Judges (2000–2006) and, on behalf of CEJ, has sat on the Steering Committee of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) (2022–2025) and taken part in the activities of the International Organization for Judicial Training (IOJT), the Ibero-American Network of Judicial Schools, and the Euro-Arab Judicial Training Network.
He was a founding member of the editorial secretariat of the judicial journal Sub Judice, has contributed to several legal publications, and co-edited The Rule of Law and Good Administration of Justice in the Digital Era (2023). He currently represents the Supreme Court of Portugal at the European Law Institute.
Mr. Pepin recently retired from his position as Director of the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), a position he held for 19 years. As Director he managed over 200 AOC employees and 2,000 court employees statewide in areas including human resources/personnel management, budgets and finance, language access, legislative initiatives, judicial and employee training, public information, technology, and court management.
He recently received the Kenneth P. Palmer Distinguished Service Award from the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) during a ceremony at its annual meeting in Maine. In 2022, Pepin received an award from the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies for his work to improve New Mexico's pretrial justice system. The National Center for State Courts selected Pepin in 2014 for its Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration. He served as President of COSCA and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Center for State Courts in 2016-2017.
During Pepin's tenure, courts implemented a statewide electronic case management system, instituted electronic filing of documents in civil and criminal cases, implemented evidence-based practices for decisions about people awaiting trial on criminal charges, and received the top ranking in the nation in 2021 for language assistance including interpreters, to people with limited English proficiency, low literacy and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Pepin also led a commission that developed initiatives to speed up the resolution of felony cases in Bernalillo County and relieve jail overcrowding.
He remains an ardent advocate for state courts.
Ms. Ingrid Derveaux is a French judge and a lecturer with over 15 years of professional experience in the legal field. She has held the position of Secretary General of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN) since January 2023, being the first woman in this position. She leads EJTN’s secretariat in Brussels. EJTN is the only network dedicated to providing training to European judges, prosecutors, court staff, and trainers, along with their respective national judicial training institutions.
Ms. Derveaux’s professional career in France encompasses judicial,managerial, and advisory roles in key justice institutions. She served as Deputy Director and Head of International Affairs at the French National School for the Judiciary, Vice-Prosecutor at the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, Investigative judge in Nice, and judge in civil and criminal matters in the Cambrai court. Additionally, she has been working in the cabinet of the French Minister of Justice, contributing, among other things, to the negotiations for establishing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘EPPO’).
As an academic and legal practitioner focusing in the field of criminal justice, Ms. Derveaux has lectured for several years on courses of criminal procedure at the University of Valenciennes. She holds an advanced degree in Law, including a master’s in private law from Paris II Panthéon – Assas University.
Hon. Patricia Walther Griffin has over 30 years of experience working in the Delaware court system, including as magistrate in the Court of Chancery, state court administrator for the Delaware courts, chief magistrate of the Justice of the Peace Court, and in private practice. Prior to moving to Delaware in 1992, she worked with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in Washington, D.C. and served as Assistant Dean for both the University of North Carolina School of Law and the W&L University School of Law.
She has extensive experience in the courtroom, as well as managing court operations, programs, budgets, personnel, and relationships within courts and with legislative and other partners. As Delaware's State Court Administrator, she served as President of the Conference of State Court Administrators and Vice-Chair of the National Center for State Courts Board of Directors.
She received the Delaware State Bar Association Outstanding Service to the Courts and Bar Award in 2019 and the National Center for State Courts' Distinguished Service Award in 2012, was inducted into the Delaware Women's Hall of Fame in 2005 and was named Person of the Year for the International Association for Truancy and Dropout Prevention in 2004.
She supports the important work of the Judicial Branch Education Academy in ensuring that judges, administrators and their teams have the necessary tools to advance their courtroom, administrative and case management skills.
On a personal note, Pat is active with the Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding organization, and she and her husband, Jim, live on their Lewes, Delaware horse farm and enjoy riding their horses.
Chief Justice (Ret.) Donald W. Beatty, a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, is a graduate of South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina School of Law. After serving as a commissioned officer in the military, he began his legal career in 1979 with the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program, later establishing a private practice in Spartanburg.
Committed to public service, he was elected to Spartanburg City Council and then to the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he served on the Ethics, Medical, Military and Municipal Affairs, and Judiciary Committees, and as Vice-Chairman and Chairman-elect of the Legislative Black Caucus.
In 1995, he was elected to the Circuit Court, elevated to the Court of Appeals in 2003, and became an Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2007. In May 2016, he was elected Chief Justice by the General Assembly and served from January 1, 2017, until his retirement in July 2024.
Chief Justice Beatty's dedication extended beyond the bench. He served on numerous boards and commissions, including Piedmont Legal Services, Access to Justice Commission, and the Sentencing Reform Commission. He was a member of the Conference of Chief Justices Board of Directors, and other national judicial organizations.
He has received many honors, including the Profile in Leadership Award, Living Legend Award, Honorary Doctor of Laws, and the Harvey Gantt Triumph Award. He frequently speaks to youth groups, promoting scholarship and leadership.
Nominated for a federal judgeship by President Barack Obama, he chose instead to serve as South Carolina's Chief Justice, a role he believed offered greater impact for his home state.