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Christoffel Hendrik Heyns (10 January 1959 – 28 March 2021) was a Professor of Human Rights Law, Director of the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa at the
University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
and a member of the
United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...
. He served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions from 2010 to 2016. Heyns was a visiting professor at American University Washington College of Law's
Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law The Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law is one of many specialized departments found within the American University Washington College of Law located in Washington, D.C. Created to promote practical approaches to issues involving Human ri ...
(2006–2012).


Education

Heyns held the degrees MA LLB from the
University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
, an LLM from
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
and PhD from the
University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...
. He was also an adjunct professor at the
Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleyto ...
of the American University and since 2005 a visiting fellow at
Kellogg College Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres including ...
at Oxford University.


Former positions

* Director -
Centre for Human Rights The Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria Faculty of Law, South Africa, is an organisation dedicated to promoting human rights on the continent of Africa. The centre, founded in 1986, promotes human rights through educational o ...
,
University of Pretoria Faculty of Law The University of Pretoria Faculty of Law was established in 1908. It consists of six academic departments, six centres, two law clinics, and the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP). This faculty ranked best in Africa for the fourth year in a r ...
* Dean -
University of Pretoria Faculty of Law The University of Pretoria Faculty of Law was established in 1908. It consists of six academic departments, six centres, two law clinics, and the Pretoria University Law Press (PULP). This faculty ranked best in Africa for the fourth year in a r ...
* Founding editor-in-chief -
African Human Rights Law Reports The ''African Human Rights Law Reports'' is an annual law journal published by JUTA Law on behalf of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria. It contains legal decisions of relevance to human rights law in Africa. These include se ...
* Consultant to the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
(inter alia on the establishment of a regional human rights system in South East Asia), the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...
and the
South African Human Rights Commission The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was inaugurated in October 1995 as an independent chapter nine institution. It draws its mandate from the South African Constitution by way of the Human Rights Commission Act of 1994. Commissioner ...
.


Awards

*
Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
to Yale Law School * Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship to the
Max Planck Institute for International and Comparative Public Law The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Max Planck Institute for International Law, MPIL) is a legal research institute located in Heidelberg, Germany. It is operated by the Max Planck Society. The institute wa ...
in
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Germany * University of Pretoria's Chancellor's Award for Teaching and Learning. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Retrieved June 27, 2011


Lectures


''Human Rights Law in Africa''
in the Lecture Series of the
United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law The United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law is a free online international law research and training tool. It was created and is maintained by the Codification Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs as a part of its m ...


References

1959 births 2021 deaths University of Pretoria alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni Yale Law School alumni University of Pretoria faculty People from Pretoria United Nations special rapporteurs South African officials of the United Nations White South African people {{UN-bio-stub