Speaker details

Biography

Legal and Program Director, Project Expedite Justice, and Independent Rule of Law Consultant. Akingbolahan Adeniran is a former state attorney-general and national rule of law advisor in Nigeria with a strong interest in international criminal justice and people-centered justice. He previously worked as a senior investigator and team leader with the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and more recently as a senior investigations expert with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. He was an investigator and a trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court in the court’s early days for almost a decade. He currently works part-time as the Horn of Africa Legal and Program Director in Project Expedite Justice, an American nonprofit working with governmental and nongovernmental entities in countries affected by conflict to develop their capacity to investigate, document, and pursue justice and accountability for international crimes and serious human rights violations as well as to meaningfully participate in transitional justice efforts. He is also working on a project to establish an African alliance for people-centered justice with Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, a US-based group of UN member countries, international organizations, members of civil society and the private sector dedicated to the delivery of the sustainable development goal targets for peace, justice, and inclusion(SDG16). Between 2022 and 2023, he served as a task team member of a high ambition coalition, the Justice Action Coalition, to advise on its operationalization with a view to catalyzing the global delivery of people-centered justice and the attainment of SDG16.He is a co-editor and co-author of the book, “International Criminal Investigations – Law and Practice”. He authored a chapter on Article 54: Duties and Powers of the Prosecutor with Respect to Investigations in the book, “Code of international Criminal Law and Procedure, Annotated”. He has published several articles, including “Anti-Corruption Measures in Nigeria: A Case for Selective Intervention by Non-State Actors” and “From Justice for the Few to Justice for All – A model for high-ambition action to deliver the SDGs”. He is the non-executive chairman of I Choose Life Foundation, Nigeria, a nonprofit set up to promote mental well-being and address the menace of drug abuse among the youth. He graduated with a first-class honors degree in Law from the University of Lagos and holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School.