Gerard Quinn is a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission and former Vice President of the European Committee of Social Rights (Council of Europe treaty monitoring body).  He was Director of the European Commission Network of Independent Legal Experts on Disability Discrimination ( Brussels ) and has directed the delegation of Rehabilitation International to the UN Ad Hoc Committee drafting the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.  He co-directs the new European Commission Network of Independent Experts on Discrimination.

He is co-author of a major Study published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the 'Current Use and Future Potential of the UN Human Rights Instruments in the Context of Disability' (2002).  He is a member of several the advisory boards including Mental Disability Advisory Centre ( Budapest ).  He is a Professor of Law at National University of Ireland, Galway , and Director of the Disability Discrimination Summer School at the National University of Ireland, Galway.