José Daniel Rodríguez Orúe

José Daniel Rodríguez Orúe is the inaugural Kenneth Roth Practitioner-in-Residence in the Environment and Human Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. A Costa Rican climate justice advocate and international lawyer with over a decade of experience, he has provided strategic legal advice to regional human rights bodies and UN experts on human rights obligations of states with regards to the environment, with a particular focus on the climate emergency. 

José previously spent seven years at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights—first as Senior Legal Clerk and then, in 2023, invited back as Consulting Attorney, contributing to landmark environmental jurisprudence. As an independent consultant, he has also supported strategic human rights litigation in the Americas, as well as cases before the Inter-American and European human rights systems. 
José holds a Law Degree from the University of Costa Rica, and an LL.M. in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.