Former Attorney General, Mohamed Shahabuddeen, 86, dies

Feb 18, 2018 News

Judge Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen

Tributes have been paid to former Attorney General and International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge, Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen who has died at age 86. Dr Shahabuddeen was born at Vreed-en-Hoop on October 7, 1931. He was called to the bar on February 9, 1954 in Middle Temple, London.
He is a recipient of the Order of Excellence, the Order of Roraima and the Caciques Crown of Honour.
Apart from serving as AG and Minister of Legal Affairs and a Magistrate, Dr. Mohamed served as a judge at the International Court of Justice from 1988-1997. In Guyana, Dr. Shahabuddeen also went into private legal practice, served as Solicitor General and acted as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from time to time.
He also held other senior ministerial positions including First Deputy Prime Minister and Vice President.
He studied law at the University of London, where he completed his Bachelors of Law.
He continued studying and at some point completed with the title of Masters of Law. He also passed with the title of Bachelors of Science in Economics. During his further career, he continued to study, which earned him the title Doctor of Philosophy, and the title of Doctor of Laws.
Books penned by him include “The Legal System of Guyana”, (Georgetown, 1973), “Constitutional Development in Guyana 1621 – 1978”, (Georgetown, 1978) and “Precedent in the World Court, Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures”, (Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Among some of the papers written by Dr. Shahabuddeen includes, “The Role of the Lawyer in Developing Guyana”, (Georgetown, 1974), “Towards Industrial Justice in Guyana”, (Georgetown, 1974), “Law Reform in Guyana”, Guyana Bar Association Review, December 1981, “Refresher Courses: Compulsory or Optional?” Proceedings of the Commonwealth Law Conference, Hong Kong, September 1983.
His recent international appointments include that of Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (June, 1997 – November, 2005); normally in the Appeals Chamber, Vice-President of the Tribunal from November, 1997 to November, 1999, and again from November, 2001 to February, 2003; Judge, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Appeals Chamber) – November 1997 to November, 2005; Judge, Permanent Court of Arbitration, since 1998.
Dr. Shahabuddeen was a member of the Guyana delegation to the United Nations (1972), member of the board of governors, University of Guyana (1963-1965), member of the Council of Legal Education of the Commonwealth (1973-1987), Ambassador to the Guyana/Venezuela Mixed Boundary Commission (1966-1970), Honorary Life Member, The Indian Society of International Law, Member of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (1983), among others, too, numerous to mention.

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