Pēteris Zilgalvis studied at the University of California, Los Angeles – UCLA (United States), where he graduated Cum laude in political science in 1986. He continued his studies at the University of Southern California (United States), where he was awarded a Juris Doctor in 1990. He was A Visiting Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University Oxford from 2013 to 2014, and was an Associate of the Political Economy of Financial Markets programme there from 2014 to 2017.
He began his career in 1990 as a Senior Adviser at the Environmental Protection Committee, Parliament, Latvia, a position he held until 1992. He then began working at the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a desk officer for the European Parliament, the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In addition, he was admitted to the California Bar (United States) in 1991.
In 1993, Mr Zilgalvis held the position of Environmental Specialist for the Baltic Region at the World Bank and was appointed Senior Environmental Law Adviser for the project ‘Russian Federation – Environmental Management Project’ in 1996.
In 1996, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Bioethics Department at the Council of Europe, a position he held until 2005. He subsequently joined the European Commission as Head of the Governance and Ethics Unit and then, in 2010, as the Head of the Infectious Diseases and Public Health Unit. Between 2010 and 2016, he continued his career within the European Commission as Head of the Health and Well Being Unit. In 2016 he was appointed Head of the Digital Innovation and Blockchain Unit and held that position along with that of the Co-Chair of the FinTech Task Force until 2021. He is also the author of publications in legal journals, in connection with fields such as bioethics, digital technology, human rights and environmental law.
Mr Zilgavis was appointed as a Judge at the General Court on 27 September 2021.