Päivi Maarit Hirvelä is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 judge on the European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...

. { Hirvelä is on leave from the Finnish state prosecutor's office. Hirvelä holds a doctorate in law.

Hirvelä worked as a general legal assistant in Sodankylä

Sodankylä

-Twin towns: Kola, Russia, since 1968 Berlevåg, Norway, since 1971 Norsjö, Sweden, since 1977 Heiligenblut, Austria, since 1979-External links:* – Official website* * * * * *...

 and Lahti

Lahti

Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...

, Finland 1981-82, referendary of the Kouvola

Kouvola

Kouvola is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located northeast of the capital, Helsinki.The city has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

Court of Appeal of 1984–1990 and after a district prosecutor in Lahti, until she was appointed Public Prosecutor in 1999. She has also worked in the European Court of Human Rights Secretariat as a lawyer and a rapporteur of the Parliamentary Ombudsman's Office. She began her post as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights on 1 January 2007.