Yash Pal Ghai CBE (born 20 October 1938) is a Kenyan academic in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...

. As of 2007 he is the head of the Constitution Advisory Support Unit of the United Nations Development Programme in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. Until 2008, he was a Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cambodia on human rights. In September 2008, he resigned his post, following bitter arguments with the Government of Cambodia

He has been a Fellow of the British Academy since 2005.

Early life and education

His grandparents were from the Khukhrain family-group of Khatris, who came from the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

region of

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Cen ...

, and were part of the waves of Indian migration in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

, sponsored by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. His father sent Ghai to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

to study.

Career

He was the Sir YK Pao Professor of Public Law at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...

starting in 1989. He has been an Honorary Professor there since his retirement in 2005. Prior to that, Ghai taught and did research in law at the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020 ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

in Sweden, the International Legal Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a 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.S. News & World ...

. He has also taught courses at the University of Wisconsin Law School, as part of an exchange program. He was the Chairman of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (which attempted to write a modern

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

for Kenya) from 2000 to 2004. Professor Ghai is also recently selected by the Fijian Military Government to be the Chairperson of Fiji's Constitutional Committee. Ghai has also advised and assisted NGOs on human rights law-related work. He drafted the Asian Human Rights Charter—A People's Charter, a project of the

Asian Human Rights Commission The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is an independent, non-governmental body that promotes human rights in Asia and mobilizes Asian and international public opinion to obtain relief and redress for the victims of human rights violations. I ...

. Ghai has written several books on law in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the Pacific islands, and elsewhere.

Honours and awards

Professor Ghai has received the following honours and awards:

Honours

*: Independence Medal, 1976 *: Independence Medal, 1979 *: Queen's Medal for Distinguished Service, 1980 *: Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 1980Yash Pal Ghai Not found in London Gazette 1969-1991

Awards

*2001: Distinguished Research Achievement Award from the

Honorary

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the go ...

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

, 1995 *

Society for Advanced Legal Studies A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

, Honorary

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, 1997 * Law Society of Kenya, Honorary Life Member, 1998 * Queen's University, Canada, Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD), 2014

References

External links

ResearcherPage, The HKU Scholars HubProfessor Ghai's column on The Star newspaper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghai, Yash 1938 births Living people Punjabi people Punjabi Hindus Kenyan academics Members of the Middle Temple Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy United Nations special rapporteurs Academic staff of the University of Dar es Salaam Academics of the University of Warwick Kenyan people of Indian descent Kenyan people of Punjabi descent Academic staff of the University of Hong Kong Harvard Law School alumni Kenyan expatriates in Fiji Academic staff of Uppsala University Yale Law School faculty Alumni of the University of Oxford Kenyan officials of the United Nations Special Representatives of the Secretary-General of the United Nations