Born in Bulgaria, Ivan Koedjikov graduated cum laude in international law in MGIMO (Moscow) and had a diplomatic career, negotiating several landmark disarmament agreements including the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe and serving in the Embassies in Paris and to the UN in New York.  He joined the CoE Secretariat in 1994 as political adviser for enlargement, then Head of Division, Deputy Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General and Head of Department.At present, Ivan Koedjikov leads the Action against Crime Department, with responsibilities in standard-setting, monitoring and co-operation in criminal law, prison and police reform, countering terrorism and combating corruption and money-laundering.