Motoc was UN Special Rapporteur for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and she chaired a number of international experts bodies and was Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Committee.

On 1 October 2013, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe elected Motoc a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights with respect to Romania.

[3] On 28 March 2023, following a selection process, she was chosen by the Romanian Government to be Romania's candidate for the post of Judge at the International Criminal Court.

Iulia Motoc was fellow in philosophy to the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen, Vienna (1999) and to the Yale School of Law (2004–2007).

In this capacity she has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo in a conflict area and she has reported on the massive violations of human rights quoted including by International Criminal Court Prosecutor.

Iulia Motoc was teaching at New York University School of Law (2002–2003) where she was Senior Jean Monnet Fellow.

This result suggests that our readership places particular importance on the rights of mentally disabled persons, and agrees with Judge Motoc's argument that the Court should be less circumspect in applying Article 14.

[8]Along with other judges, she was cited in an independent NGO report for possible conflict of interest as she seated in three cases in which the International Commission of Jurists(ICJ) intervened as third party.

[10][11] Shortly before the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided on a prosecution request for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October 2024, Motoc asked to leave the three-judge panel on health grounds and was immediately replaced by Slovenian judge Beti Hohler.