Akua Kuenyehia (born 1947) is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian academic and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

who served as

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

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

(ICC) from 2003 to 2015. She also served as First Vice-president of the Court. She was one of the three female African judges at the ICC. Kuenyehia represented Ghana on the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted ...

(CEDAW)

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

in 2003 and worked hard to contribute to its reputation and influence. Kuenyehia is an Honorary Fellow of

Somerville College Somerville College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The college's liberal tone derives from its f ...

. She is a member of the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative Advisory Council, a project of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis to establish the world's first treaty on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.

Education and early career

Kuenyehia was educated at

Achimota School Achimota School (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra Reg ...

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

and

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

. She has spent most of her professional career teaching at the University of Ghana, as Dean of Law, and as a visiting professor at other institutions including

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

and

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

. She is the President of Mountcrest University College, Ghana. The law faculty building at the University of Ghana,

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Ayawaso West Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. ...

, was named in joint honour of President

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as the 11th president of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the govern ...

and Kuenyehia.

Judge of the International Criminal Court, 2003–2015

In March 2009, judges chose Kuenyehia as well as Anita Ušacka of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

for appeals positions. Three months later, both of them had to step down from an appeal in the case of Germain Katanga of the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, on trial for

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

, because they had previously issued his arrest warrant.

Personal life

Kuenyehia is married with three children.

Books

* ''Women and Law in West Africa'' (2003). Accra, Ghana, WaLWA. * With Butegwa, F., & S. Nduna (2000). ''Legal Rights Organizing for Women in Africa: A Trainer's Manual''. Harare, Zimbabwe, WiLDAF. * With Bowman, C. G. (2003). ''Women and Law in Sub-Saharan Africa''. Accra, Ghana: Sedco. .

Recognition

In 2013, the University of Ghana named a newly constructed faculty of law building after Kuenyehia.

References

External links

"Prof Akua Kuenyehia Re-Elected"
''Graphic Ghana'', 30 January 2006.
"Interview with Prof Akua Kuenyehia"
April 2003 newsletter, WiLDAF/FeDDAF.
"Prof. Kuenyehia Speaks Out Against Polygamy"
GhanaWeb, 19 February 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuenyehia, Akua 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers Alumni of Achimota School International Criminal Court judges 1947 births Living people Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford University of Ghana alumni Ghanaian women judges Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Ghanaian judges of international courts and tribunals 21st-century Ghanaian judges 21st-century women judges Alumni of the University of Oxford