Raymond Claudius Sock (born 5 June 1946) is a Gambian judge who currently serves as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Gambia. He had previously served as a Justice from 2012 to 2015, when he was dismissed by

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 ...

Early life and education

Sock received his primary and secondary education in The Gambia, completing his university education in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

(

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

) from

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. He went on to train in law at the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is one of the five schools of City, University of London. In 2001, the Inns of Court School of Law became part of City, and is now known as the City Law School. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar ...

(now

City, University of London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

) and

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, where he was called to the bar. He also completed a certificate in legislative drafting from the Australia Legislative Drafting Institute.

Career

Sock joined the Attorney General's Chambers in 1980 as a state counsel. By 1989, he had become the Solicitor General and Legal Secretary, and was seconded to help establish the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), where he served as its first Executive Director, responsible for the creation of the centre's first programmes, in collaboration with organisations such as the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...

(ICJ). Between 1989 and 1995, Sock authored several articles on human rights in Africa and organised various meetings and workshops on the subject. From 1995 to 2000, Sock worked in private legal practice as a senior partner, during which he handled both civil and criminal cases, including murder and treason. In 2000, he returned to the Ministry of Justice to take up his old job as Solicitor General. He was nominated by The Gambia as a judge of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

in 2002, though his nomination was not successful. For a brief period in 2005, he served 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 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 2005 to 2011, Sock worked as a consultant for the UNDP and ECOWAS, as well as the Gambian Ministry of Justice. He became the first Director-General of the Gambia Law School, which was established in October 2011. In April 2012, Sock was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the Gambia. He served as Acting Chief Justice from November 2012 to June 2013, being replaced by Justice Joseph Wowo. He was dismissed in June 2015 alongside Justice Gibou Janneh, a decision decried by Kairo News as "taking away the Gambian touch at the higher echelon in legal rulings." In October 2017,

Adama Barrow Adama Barrow ( ff, 𞤀𞥄𞤣𞤢𞤥𞤢 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤪𞤮, Aadama Baaro, born 15 February 1965) is a Gambian politician and real estate developer who has served as President of the Gambia since 2017. Born in Mankamang Kunda, a village ...

re-appointed Sock and Janneh to the Supreme Court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sock, Raymond Living people 20th-century Gambian lawyers Government ministers of the Gambia Chief justices of the Gambia Lewis & Clark College alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni 1946 births 21st-century Gambian judges