Surya Subedi

Background

Professor Surya Subedi started his education at Tribhuvan University, LLB 1980 and MA 1984. He then moved to the University of Hull (LLM with Distinction 1988) and finally to the University of Oxford (DPhil in Law 1993). Prof Subedi began his academic career as a Lecturer in Law in 1993 at the University of Hull. After rapid successive promotions he became a Professor of Law in 1999. After a stint at Middlesex University, he moved to the University of Leeds in 2004 to become Professor of International Law, a post he still holds to date.

Overview

Prof Subedi practised law as an advocate prior to joining the government of Nepal during which he was Under-Secretary in the International Law & Treaties Division in the Ministry of Law & Justice and later as legal advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a practising Barrister in England at Three Stone Chambers, Lincoln's Inn, London. Prior to qualifying for the English Bar, he was a consultant on international legal matters to Mishcon de Reya Solicitors in London. He has advised a number of countries on international legal matters and was appointed in 2004 by the World Trade Organization to the Roster of Panellists of its Dispute Settlement System. His name has also been designated to serve on the panel of arbitrators of an intergovernmental organization - the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) with its headquarters at the World Bank in Washington DC.

United Nations Special Rapporteur

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted unanimously for Prof Subedi to be the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia at the 10th Session of the Council in 2009. As one of only 12 country-specific UN special rapporteurs in the world, Prof Subedi identified human rights problems in the country and gave constructive recommendations to help tackle them. Responding to the news of his appointment, Professor Subedi said: “The main task would be to cast an impartial expert eye on the overall human rights situation in Cambodia and offer constructive advice to the Government to address the problems that exist with regard to the overall situation in the country.” During his six years of service for the UN, he produced four substantive and substantial reports on judicial, parliamentary, electoral and land reform in Cambodia and contributed to a peaceful political transition in the country. Many of his recommendations, especially those relating to judicial and electoral reform have been implemented by the Government of Cambodia.

Honours

Professor Subedi was appointed a Queen's Counsel ( QC) honoris causa in the UK in 2017 in recognition of his contribution to the development of international law and to the advancement of human rights. Prior to this, he was made an OBE in 2004 for his services to international law and to Britain-Nepal relations. Speaking at the OBE investiture on 19 October 2004 in London, Mr. Jack Straw, the then British Foreign Secretary, stated that Professor Subedi had “made a highly distinguished contribution to our understanding of international law, and to its evolution” and his work in international law had "spanned almost every aspect of it - with a special focus on issues ... which make a real difference to people's lives." He also was decorated by His late Majesty King Birendra of Nepal with a high-level state honour, the Order of Suprabal Gorkha Daxinbahu, for his services to international law and to the nation in 1998. Professor Subedi has a string of other honours to his credit and has been awarded prestigious academic prizes for his work, including the Dasturzada Pavry Memorial Prize by the University of Oxford for an outstanding DPhil thesis in 1993, an SPTL Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship by the British Society of Legal Scholars for one of his books in 1997 and the Josephine Onoh Memorial Prize as best LLM student of the year by the University of Hull in 1988. He also has won two scholarships- first was a British Council Scholarship to Hull for his LLM studies in 1986 and second was an FCO Scholarship for his doctoral studies at Oxford in 1989.

Other Activities

He was a Crown representative on the Governing Board of SOAS, University of London, in 2007 and he completed his five-year term of office in 2012. He also was a Governor of Beverley High School in East Yorkshire between 1999 and 2001. He currently is Co-chair of a major medical charity - Britain-Nepal Medical Trust - which is the oldest British charity working in Nepal for the past 50 years. He also is Chairman of a London-based think-tank, the Global Policy Forum for Nepal and Founding Chairman of the Britain-Nepal Academic Council (established at SOAS, University of London, in May 2000).

Publications

He has published eight books in various areas in international law and a good number of scholarly articles in all major international law journals. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Yearbook of International Law (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers) for six years between 1999 and 2006 and is currently Chairman of the Board of Editors of the Asian Journal of International Law (Cambridge University Press) and Chairman of the Research Committee of the Asian Society of International Law.

i. Books

ii. Articles

iii. Reports

All of these reports were submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in his capacity as the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights for Cambodia and were published by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, as UN documents.