Despite repeatedly branding herself as an “international lawyer” on official platforms in her role as UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese has now admitted that she never took a bar exam and has no license to practice law. Geneva-based NGO UN Watch is calling on the UN Human Rights Office to remove Albanese’s misleading professional designation from its website and conduct an investigation into Albanese’s conduct.
“I never lie. I didn’t take the exam to become a lawyer, because I’m not a lawyer, and I never wanted to do it.”
This is what Francesca Albanese told Vanity Fair in a recent interview with the Italian edition of the magazine.
Her admission comes in stark contrast to repeated claims over the years that she is a qualified lawyer. These false legal credentials were a key part of her application to the role of UN Special Rapporteur and appear prominently on Albanese’s official UN profile.
In her November 2021 application for the UN role, Albanese wrote: “I am a human rights lawyer by training and call… it would be an honor for me to hold the position, as a lawyer.” Multiple posts on Albanese’s social media account echo these false claims. Most recently, she reasserted this claim in a post on X on April 30, 2025, qualifying her assessment “as a human rights lawyer.”
Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch stated:
“Francesca Albanese has now admitted that she never took a bar exam. Yet for years she publicly referred to herself as an ‘international lawyer,’ a title that implies having license and authority to practice law.”
“In most jurisdictions, including Albenese’s home country of Italy, as well as in the United States, where Georgetown University lists her as an affiliate and describes her as an ‘international lawyer,’ calling yourself a lawyer without bar admission is misleading at best and unlawful at worst.”
“As a UN official tasked with upholding legal standards, Albanese’s misrepresentation of her credentials raises serious ethical concerns. It represents yet another example of her utter disregard for facts and accountability.”
UN Watch has officially called on the UN Human Rights Office to remove the misleading designation from its official website and is calling for an investigation into Albanese’s conduct.
This latest scandal surrounding Albanese’s ethical conduct follows UN Watch’s most recent report, “Nothing to Hide”, which exposed the UN and Albanese’s repeated lies about her financial misconduct.
The revelations further strengthen UN Watch’s call on the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to formally recognize that Albanese no longer holds a valid UN mandate, declare that she is therefore no longer entitled to any diplomatic immunity, and that she should be sanctioned, subject to lawsuits and denied entry to the United States.
FRANCESCA ALBANESE THEN:
🗣️“As a lawyer, I am obliged to be precise and scientific…”
🗣️“The human rights lawyer in me…”
🗣️“As a fellow lawyer, and mother…”
🗣️“As a human rights lawyer…”FRANCESCA ALBANESE NOW:
⭕️ “I never lie. I didn't take the exam, I'm not a lawyer.” https://t.co/Jp0MndqpeD pic.twitter.com/Wu0yEmkg7N- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 31, 2025
