Hawa Sisay-Sabally is a

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

who served as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

from 1996–1998 and has since spoken out against corruption in The Gambia and represented opposition politicians in criminal cases regarding their participation in pro-democracy protests.

Early life and education

Sisay-Sabally's father was former Minister of Trade and Finance Sheriff Saikouba Sisay.

Career

Sisay-Sabally was appointed as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

and Attorney General under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

in April 1996. She was replaced by

Fatou Bensouda Fatou Bom Bensouda (; ; born 31 January 1961) is a Gambian lawyer and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). She served as Prosecutor from June 2012 to June 2021, after having ...

on 31 July 1998. After the government approved a controversial Indemnity Act in 2001, allowing the President to shield people from prosecution, Sisay-Sabally spoke out against it as "tantamount to a coup against the 1997 constitution." The Act was passed to prevent the prosecution of security personnel for their roles in the deaths of 14 students in April 2000. Sisay-Sabally represented her husband in a case that went to the

Supreme Court of the Gambia The Supreme Court of the Gambia is a superior court of record and the highest court in The Gambia. Established in 1851, it has appellate and original jurisdiction over any law exceeding the powers conferred by the Constitution or any law upon th ...

, which ruled that the act had been passed and retroactively applied to prevent his case and awarded him damages. Sisay-Sabally is a member of the Female Lawyers Association of the Gambia, founded in 2007 to lobby for

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

in The Gambia through legislative reform. She is also a member of

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

and of the Network of Lawyers for Defence of Journalists in West Africa and has spoken out against

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

in The Gambia. She is secretary to the Board of the Arab Gambian Islamic Bank. In 2010, Sisay-Sabally represented Yussef Ezzeden, one of the accused in a

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

trial involving former Chief of Defence Lang Tombong Tamba. In 2016, she was one of the lawyers representing United Democratic Party opposition politician

Ousainou Darboe Ousainou Darboe (born 8 August 1948) is a Gambian politician and lawyer who serves as the National Assembly Minority Leader since April 2022. He previously served as Vice-President of the Gambia and Minister of Women's Affairs from June 2018 to ...

and others who were jailed for staging pro-democracy protests ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Personal life

Sisay-Sabally is married to Ousman Sabally, a school teacher, who she represented in 2001 after he was assaulted by state security agents.

Publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sisay-Sabally, Hawa Living people Government ministers of the Gambia Gambian women lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Gambian women politicians Women government ministers of the Gambia Female justice ministers 20th-century Gambian lawyers 21st-century Gambian lawyers Attorneys General of the Gambia