Judge Eugene Cotran (6 August 1938 – 7 June 2014) was a circuit judge in England and one of the main jurists in charge of the drafting of a Basic Law of Palestine.

Biography

Born in Jerusalem on 6 August 1938, Cotran studied at Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt and the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, taking both a bachelor and master of laws degree in 1958. He was a research fellow in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

at the Trinity Hall at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

taking a diploma in international law in 1959. He was in 1971 awarded an LL.D. by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

for his publications in the field of African law and his work at the

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

in London. He was called to the

English bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

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in 1959. He subsequently practiced at 2 Paper Building in the

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from 1963 to 1992. He was in 1977 appointed a High Court Judge in Kenya, having been a Kenyan law commissioner in 1967-68, and remained in this position until 1982. On his return to London he became a visiting professor and chairman of the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at the SOAS whilst continuing to practice at the English bar. He was joint head of chambers with Rt Hon Sir Desmond Lorenz de Silva QC from 1986 to 1992. He was appointed as a

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in 1989 and as such sat as a judge in the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

until his appointment as a circuit judge in 1992. After his appointment as a circuit judge in 1992 he initially sat in crime, largely at Southwark Crown Court, but subsequently he sat only on civil cases in the County Court. His interventionist style whilst sitting in Court attracted criticism in the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

on several occasions. After the Oslo Accords, Judge Cotran was in 1994 appointed to the Board of the Commissioners of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights (PICHR). He assisted in the drafting of the Basic Law for Palestine. He also worked in projects for the unification of the laws of the West Bank and Gaza and has also acted as an Advisor to the Negotiation Affairs Department of the PLO. Eugene Cotran died in London on 7 June 2014.

Works published

* ''Readings in African Law Cb: Volumes 1 and 2'' (together with Neville Rubin) (Routledge: 1970) * ''The Arab-Israeli Accords: Legal Perspective'' (Cimel Book Series, 1996) * ''The Role of the Judiciary in the Protection of Human Rights'' (Centre of Islamic & Middle Eastern Law Series, 1997) * ''Democracy: The Rule of Law and Islam'' (Cimel Book Series, 1999) * ''The Rule of Law in the Middle East and the Islamic World: Human Rights and the Judicial Process'' (together with Mai Yamani, 2000) * ''The Protection of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories'' (together with Emma Brown), in: Rainer Grote and Tilmann Röder (eds.), ''Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity'' (OUP: Oxford and New York 2011)

References

External links

Homepage at the SOAS

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotran, Eugene 1938 births 2014 deaths Academics of SOAS University of London Victoria College, Alexandria alumni Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge 21st-century English judges Kenyan judges Lawyers from Jerusalem 20th-century English judges