Professor Uchenna Emelonye
- +44 (0)1202 961857
- uemelonye@bournemouth.ac.uk
- http://orcid.org/0009-0000-2054-736X
- Visiting Professor of Human Rights Law
- Weymouth House, Talbot Campus
Biography
Professor Uchenna Emelonye is the Senior Human Rights Adviser to the United Nations in Sierra Leone. He brings to this position decades of multidisciplinary experiences across 22 countries and four continents in diverse aspects human rights, rule of law, good governance and security sector reform in conflict, post conflict, transition and development contexts. Prior to this post, he was the Country Representative, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Liberia. Similarly, he served as OHCHR Country Representative in Uganda and Senior Human Rights Adviser to the United Nations in Kenya. In the context of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, he was Judicial Affairs Officer, United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Sudan; Human Rights Officer, OHCHR Pristina Kosovo; Human Rights Officer, United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), etc.
Outside the United Nations system, Professor Emelonye occupied several cognate and strategic positions. He was the Head, Governance, Institutional and Justice Reform at International Development Law Organization (IDLO) Rome, Italy... On this post, he superintended over a global rule of law portfolio that supported constitutional, institutional, legal and judicial reforms in countries across common law, civil law and Islamic legal systems. Likewise, he was the Chief-of-Party, “European Union Emergency Assistance to the Justice System of South Sudan” and successfully supported South Sudan’s transition from Islamic legal system to English Common Law. Other related positions include Rule of Law Coordinator, International Rescue Committee (IRC) Sudan; Executive Director, Constitutional Rights Project (CRP-Nigeria); Senior Legal Officer, The Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), etc.
Professor. Emelonye was admitted to the roll of Barristers and Solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1995 and holds a doctorate degree in Law (LLD) from the University of Helsinki Finland. His doctoral thesis calibrated and postulated that the principles of 'proportionality' and 'best interest of the child' are the twin pillars of child justice. He also holds a masters degree in Human Rights Law (LLM) from Central European University, Budapest Hungary; masters degree in Law (LLM) and bachelors degree in Law (LLB) from Abia State University Nigeria. With pedagogical experiences across reputable universities in Africa, Europe and North America and as a prolific researcher with extensive publication profile, he is a Visiting Professor of Human Rights Law at Bournemouth University, United Kingdom. His current research interest is at the intersection and fusion of human rights law and practice.
more