User:Leontari1/Oskar Lehner

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Oskar Lehner (* October 21, 1955 in Linz) is an international expert for election monitoring, election assistance, legal observation and protection of human rights, and for nation-building in conflict and post-conflict states and areas in Europe, Asia and Africa. He also worked as a legal scholar.

Career
Oskar Lehner graduated (1978) at the faculty of law of the Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), and worked there from 1978 till 1994 as assistant professor and later associate professor. In 1987 he completed his habilitation for the area “Contemporary Austrian Legal History”, presenting a research on the history of Austrian family law. His publications regarding Austrian constitutional law (see publications below: Lehner 1992–2007) and family law (see publications below: Lehner 1987) are until today widely used as reference works on Austrian legal history. After having worked already 1993 on a temporary assignment for UNTAC in Cambodia, Oskar Lehner resigned in 1994 from his academic career, and for 23 years (1994-2016) he served as an international expert for the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE in the fields of election monitoring and election assistance, of legally observing and protecting human rights and of nation-building (here with a focus on capacity building in the political system, like establishing parliaments or Ombudsman-institutions). Most of his assignments were in conflict and after-conflict/ after-war countries, areas and states. He retired from this work in 2016 and started a “third career” as a globetrotter and travel writer. Together with his partner Ursula Forster he started the project of travelling around the world by camper. The first section from Argentina (Patagonia) to Alaska lasted from 2016 till 2020. Currently they are on their way crossing Central Asia. He frequently reports about his journeys in travel blogs.

International assignments (a selection)
During his various international assignments Oskar Lehner worked in Europe (Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo), in Africa (Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Tanzania and Somalia) as well as in Asia (Palestine, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Indonesia). Here a short list of his more than 20 assignments/ missions is listed.
 * 1994–1995: Head of Field Office in Gisenyi, Rwanda: Human rights protection, Genocide investigation. Mission of the OHCHR in Rwanda 1994-1995 ).
 * 1996: Director for Human Rights and Democratization, Bosnia: Human rights protection. OSCE Mission to Bosnia 1996.
 * 1996–1997: Head of Coordination Office in Knin, Croatia: Ethnic minority protection, Election monitoring. Mission of the OSCE in Croatia 1996-1997.
 * 1998–1999: Deputy Head of Mission, Tajikistan: Implementation of the 1997 peace contract after the Tajik civil war. Mission of the OSCE in Tajikistan 1998-1999.
 * 2000−2001: Head of Field Office, Vushtrri/ Vučitrn, Kosovo: Ethnic minority protection, Election monitoring. Mission of the OSCE to Kosovo 2000-2001.
 * 2002: Deputy Chief Observer, Pakistan: Election monitoring. European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) in Pakistan 2002.
 * 2003: Deputy Chief Observer, Nigeria: Election monitoring. European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) in Nigeria 2003.
 * 2003–2004: Deputy Chief Observer, Indonesia: Election monitoring. European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) in Indonesia 2003-2004.
 * 2005–2006: Chief Technical Advisor for Election, Kyrgyzstan: Election assistance. UNDP mission in Kyrgyzstan 2005-2006.
 * 2008–2010: Project Manager for Election, Tanzania: Election assistance in Zanzibar. UNDP mission in Tanzania 2008-2010.
 * 2011–2014: Senior Technical Advisor for Election, Afghanistan: Election assistance. UNDP UNAMA mission in Afghanistan 2011-2014.
 * 2014–2016: Chief Technical Advisor, Somalia: Parliamentary and constitutional support project. UNDP.

Scientific publications (a selection)

 * 1985 (ed. with Ursula Flossmann): Frau, Recht, Gesellschaft. Seminar zur Frauenrechtsgeschichte (Woman, Law, Society: A seminar on the history of women's law). Trauner editors, Linz 1985, ISBN 3-85320-365-5 (also online full text „Frau, Recht, Gesellschaft“, PDF).
 * 1987: Familie – Recht – Politik. Die Entwicklung des österreichischen Familienrechts im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Mit Geleitworten von Christian Broda und Walter Hauser (Family, Law and Politics: The Development of Austrian Family Law from the 19th to the 20th century. With forewords by Christian Broda and Walter Hauser), Springer editors, Vienna & New York 1987, ISBN 3-211-81984-3.
 * 1988: Senatus Consultum Velleianum. Die Wiederkehr einer antiken Rechtsfigur im frühneuzeitlichen österreichischen Recht (Senatus Consultum Velleianum. The return of an antique legal figure in Austrian early modern law), in: Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Germanistische Abteilung, ed. Böhlau Verlag),, vol. 105 (1988), pp. 270–288.
 * 1992–2007: Österreichische Verfassungs- und Verwaltungsgeschichte. Mit Grundzügen der Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte (On the history of Austrian Constitutional and Administratrive Law, including basics of a respective social and economic history), Trauner editors, Linz 1992, ISBN 3-85487-339-5; meanwhile 4th edition 2007 (ISBN 978-3-85487-339-6).
 * 1992: The Identity of Austria 1918/19 as a problem of State succession, in: Austrian journal of public and international law (Vienna etc., Springer),, vol 44 (1992), pp. 63–84.
 * 1993: Kinder- und Jugendrecht (Children's and Youth law in Austria), Kremayr & Scheriau editors, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-7007-0368-6.
 * 2002: Tajikistan: a successful example of incorporation of a militant Islamic movement into the constitutional framework?, in: Andrea Strasser (ed.): Zentralasien und Islam (Central Asia and Islam), Deutsches Orient Institut (DOI), Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-89173-067-5, pp. 109–115.
 * 2006: Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and Programming Advanced Training for the UN Country Team in Kyrgyzstan, UNDP, Kirgistan Mission, Bischkek 2006, online only (full text with 91 presentation slides).
 * 2009: Respecting Human Rights in Central Asia: Will this stabilize or destabilize the Region?, in: Security and Human Rights (Brill & Nijhoff editors, Den Haag),, vol. 1 (2009), pp. 48–55.

Travel Blogs

 * 2005–2014: Asia (Afghanistan, Kyrgysztan, Nepal, India, Iran, Yemen) Infos and Foto-blogs about several travels in Asia.
 * 2015–2021: Africa (Tansania including Sansibar, Somalia, Rwanda, Eritrea, Djibouti) Infos and Foto-blogs about several travels in Africa.
 * 2016–2021: Europe (Austria, Iceland, Finnland) Infos and Foto-blogs about several travels in Europe.
 * 2016–2017: South America Infos and Foto-blogs (part 1 of the world travel project).
 * 2018–2019: USA and Canada Infos and Foto-blogs (part 2 of the world travel project).

Weblinks

 * Biography and other detailled informations on Oskar Lehner, at his own website.
 * Oskar Lehner in the Electoral Knowledge Network
 * travel videos by Oskar Lehner on youtube