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 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 ...

at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

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 ...

. 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. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption ...

(2006–2012).

Education

Heyns held the degrees MA LLB from the

, an LLM from

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 ...

and PhD from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

. 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 research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of nort ...

of the American University and since 2005 a visiting fellow at Kellogg College 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 ...

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 -

* Founding editor-in-chief - African Human Rights Law Reports * 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 ...

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 w ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

, 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