Martin Scheinin (born 4 November 1954) is an international law scholar who served as the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism in 2005–2011.

Although Scheinin received a Lutheran upbringing, his father's Jewish ancestry made him read books on the Holocaust and thus he became interested in human rights.

[6][7] He was active in the 1970s student radicalism and involved in the Turun Akateeminen Sosialistiseura (Academic Socialist Association of Turku)[7] In early 1980s he worked as lawyer of the parliamentary group of the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), briefly also engaging with the Eurocommunist fraction of the deeply divided Communist Party of Finland.

[10] He was active in several non-governmental organisations, including Ihmisoikeusliitto (Finnish League for Human Rights) and Suomen Demokraattiset Lakimiehet DEMLA (Democratic Lawyers of Finland).

[19] He was also the coordinator of the research strand GLOTHRO (Beyond Territoriality: Globalisation and Transnational Human Rights Obligations) within the EUI Global Governance Programme.

On some other occasions, certain governments have been highly critical about the reports, such as Scheinin's analysis of the [gender] impact of counter-terrorism measures[26] and his proposals of a total reform of the terrorist listing by the United Nations Security Council.

Senator Orrin Hatch called Scheinin and his colleague Christof Heyns "jerks" for sending a letter to the US government concerning the circumstances of the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Scheinin's mandate as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism ended on 31 July 2011.

After his years as Special Rapporteur, Scheinin has remained active in issues concerning counter-terrorism and surveillance, as an academic, expert witness or in the media.

[37] In 2015, when ten years had passed since his membership on the UN Human Rights Committee, Scheinin accepted again to serve as pro bono counsel for the indigenous Sami people.

[38] Scheinin is involved in ongoing litigation concerning indigenous peoples' rights, including in cases related to mining and climate change.

From 2018 to 2023, Scheinin served as a member of the Scientific Committee of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, its main quality assurance body.