NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

17 July 1997

Press Release
BIO/3082

NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC PRESENTS CREDENTIALS

19970717 Biographical Note

Cristina Aguiar, the new Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, today presented her credentials to Secretary- General Kofi Annan.

An attorney admitted to the French Bar in 1979, Ms. Aguiar has been in private practice since 1992. Most recently, she has been associated with the law firm of Russin, Vecchi & Heredia Bonetti, specialists in international law in Santo Domingo. She specializes in international law, concentrating on arbitration, international trade law, international relations, international contracts and international cooperation.

Ms. Aguiar is a founding member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Grupo Euro-business Councils in South America since 1993. She is a member of the Inter-American Bar Association, as well of two Paris-based professional organizations: the Association of Women in the Legal Professions and the National Confederation of Lawyers.

Ms. Aguiar has delivered lectures at various congresses, symposiums and seminars, and has taught legal courses in the Dominican Republic and France. In Paris, she is a lecturer at the School of Advanced International Studies and a visiting lecturer at the College of Economic and Commercial Sciences. In Santo Domingo, she is a visiting lecturer at the Universidad Acción Pro-Educación y Cultura (UNAPEC).

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Ms. Aguiar taught English and commercial subjects at UNAPEC. From 1970 to 1971, she was an executive secretary at Citibank.

Ms. Aguiar received her first and second law degrees (licence and maîtrise) from the University of Paris, and is a candidate for a doctoral degree in law from that institution. She has also completed specialized course work in law at Harvard University in the United States, and at the Institute of Comparative Law of the University of Paris.

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