Attorney General & Secretary of State for Justice

Sheikh Tijan Hydara
Attorney General & Secretary of State for Justice

CURRICULUM VITAE

NAME: Sheikh Tijan Hydara

DATE OF BIRTH : 9th May 1968

NATIONALITY: Gambian

RELIGION: Muslim

MARITAL STATUS: Married

SEX: Male

TEL: +44 220 943179
E-MAIL: sthydara@hotmail.com

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

2000-2001	Master of Laws Legislative Drafting	The University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
1996-1997	Barrister at Law	Nigeria Law School, Victoria Island Nigeria
1992-1996	Bachelor of Laws	University of Sokoto, Nigeria

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice & National Assembly Matters	November 2003- Present As the Secretary of State responsible for the portfolio of the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of State for Justice and National Assembly Matters, the ambit of my office extended to the administrative matters of the Judiciary; the Administration of Justice and Criminal law; Civil Litigations for and on behalf of the Government of the Gambia; the conduction and direction of Public Prosecutions; Legal Advice and Legal Affairs; the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel; the office of the Registrar General including marriages and divorce, intellectual property; the office of the Curator of In testate Estates and National Assembly Matters. My responsibility as the Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice and a member of Cabinet includes - conducting business relating to the matters within my portfolio both in Cabinet and at the National Assembly - working in collaboration with colleagues and other public officers to execute decisions taken and made in Cabinet - initiating policy on matters relating to my portfolio and presenting them to Cabinet for consideration and discussions.
Principal Legal Draftsman & Acting Registrar of Companies	2003-Present Attorney General's Chambers & Department of State for Justice. As Principal Draftsperson responsibilities include inter alia, the drafting of all the Bills in the Gambia from different Government Departments. The preparation of legislations and notices for gazetting and assisting the Parliamentary counsel during National Assembly Sessions when the need arose as well attending National Assembly sessions. As the acting Registrar of Companies my responsibilities include inter alia the incorporation of companies association and the conduction of civil marriages.
Acting Curator of In testate Estate	2003 Attorney General's Chambers & The Department of State for Justice. Briefly acted as the Curator of In testate estate in an acting capacity and the responsibilities included the administration of the estates of those who died in testate and ensured that the beneficiaries of the diseased were justly apportioned their rightful inheritance.
Senior Legal Draftsman	2002-2003 Attorney General's Chambers & The Department of State for Justice. Responsibilities included drafting and the preparation of legislations and notices for the gazetting and assisting the Parliamentary counsel during National Assembly sessions when the need arose.
State Counsel	1998-2002 Attorney General's Chambers and The Department of State for Justice. Responsibilities included the prosecution of criminal cases, writing legal opinions and advice to the Police on matters relating to criminal cases. Legal advices were also provided to government departments on behalf of the Solicitor General and Legal Secretary on any issue requested by said government Departments.
Research Assistant	May 1990-February 1992 National Council for Arts and Culture. Responsibilities included the conduction of researches for the government of the Gambia and NGOs on matters relating to culture.

OTHER EXPERIENCES:

2003	Gambia	Desk Officer on the preparation of the Gambia Delegation to Senegal on the Negotiation to Harmonize the laws relating to Road Traffic in both countries.
2003	Kenya	Attended a workshop on Copyright Law.
2003	Gambia	Board member AFPRC Hospital Board of Directors.
2003	Gambia	Attended a Seminar on the Harmonization of Anti terrorism laws and their implementation.
2002-present	Gambia	Member of the Cabinet sub-committee on new Legislations
2002	Dakar	Attended a meeting on the Harmonization of Migration, Immigrants and refugee laws in the Sub-region.
2002	Conakry	Attended a Seminar on the Ratification of UN Conventions on Drugs and Drug Related Offenses
2002	Ethiopia	Attended a Workshop on the Fight Against Corruption
2002	Sudan	Legal Advisor during the Loan Negotiations between the Government of the Gambia and BADEA.
1999	India	Certificate on Legislative Drafting

PUBLICATIONS/ LECTURES:

LLM Thesis. 2002 (unpublished) "Approaches of Caribbean and Gambian Courts to Ouster Clauses".

Paper delivered at a Workshop organized by The Gambia Bar Association. 1999. The Atlantic Hotel. "The Development of Judiciary in the Gambia"

Paper delivered at the Juvenile Justice Committee.1999. "Child Witnesses and Criminal Justice System"

Paper delivered in 2003 on at a Workshop organized by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in collaboration with the American Embassy. "Crimes Committed by Journalist in the course of their Investigation for Reporting"

Paper delivered in 2003 on at the Palm Grove Hotel to members of the Civil Society during a workshop organized by the African Development Bank. "International Humanitarian Law".

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

1998 – present	The Gambia Bar association
1998 - present	The Nigerian Bar Association