Nemat Abdullah Mohamed Khair ( ar, نعمات عبدالله محمد خير; other transliterations: ''Neemat'', ''Nimat'', ''Abdallah''; born 1957) is a

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese judge of the Sudanese

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

who became Chief Justice of Sudan (head of the Sudanese judiciary) on 10 October 2019. As such, under Article 29.(3) of the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, she is also the president of the Supreme Court of Sudan and is "responsible for administering the judicial authority before the Supreme Judicial Council." Khair is the first woman Chief Justice of Sudan.

Childhood and education

Khair is from al-Kamleen in Gezira, and obtained a BA in law from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

2018–2019 Sudanese protests

Khair participated in the

2018–2019 Sudanese protests The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudan ...

, in a march by judges and in the sit-in in front of the Khartoum army headquarters, which was broken up in the 3 June

Khartoum massacre The Khartoum massacre occurred on 3 June 2019, when the armed forces of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council, headed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the immediate successor organisation to the Janjaweed militia, used heavy gunfire and ...

. She had been perceived as an opponent of the al-Bashir government for several years prior to the protests.

Judicial career

Khair became a member of the Sudanese judiciary in the early 1980s. She worked in the Court of Appeal, the Court of First Instance, and became a judge of the

. Khair founded the Sudanese Judges Club as an organisation independent from government. Khair ruled against the al-Bashir government in 2016 in a case involving the Anglican church.

Political neutrality

Khair is not affiliated to any political party. According to ''Sudan Daily'', she is "known for her competence, integrity and experience". Muez Hadra of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) described Nemat as "honest and earnest" and completely independent of the former al-Bashir government.

Head of Sudanese judiciary

On 10 October 2019, Khair was confirmed as the head of the Sudanese judiciary after being selected by consensus between the Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance (FFC). Under Article 29.(3) of the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, she is also the president of the

and is "responsible for administering the judicial authority before the Supreme Judicial Council." Khair had earlier been expected to become Chief Justice on 20 or 21 August 2019, according to ''Khartoum Star'' and ''Sudan Daily''. Khair is the first female Chief Justice of Sudan, and one of only a small number of female Chief Justices in Africa (following Kaïta Kayentao Diallo –

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

, 2006;

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, 2011;

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, 2014;

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, 2017;

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Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, 2018). On 12 September 2019, prior to Khair's 10 October confirmation, thousands of protestors in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

and other Sudanese towns called for Abdelgadir Mohamed Ahmed to be appointed as Chief Justice and Mohamed el-Hafiz as Attorney General. Another 10 October decree declared

Tag el-Sir el-Hibir Tag el-Sir el-Hibir (also: ''Taj'', ''El Sir'', ''Alsir'', ''El Hibir'', ''Alhibir'', born in 1948) is a Sudanese lawyer who became the Attorney-General of Sudan on 10 October 2019 during the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy. Childhood and ...

as Attorney-General.

References