First Deputy Chief Justice, Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt
Dr. Dr. h.c. Adel Omar Sherif is the Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt; a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas and the Vice-President of the International Judicial Academy, Washington, D.C. USA.
He holds a number of law degrees, including LL.B. in Law and Economics, Advanced Studies Diploma in Public Law, Advanced Studies Diploma in Administrative Law, and Ph.D. in Constitutional Law, from Cairo and Ain Shams Universities in Egypt.
After working in private practice for a short period of time, he was appointed to the Council of the State (Egypt’s system for administrative judiciary), where he served between 1980 and 1992 in the various positions within the judicial section a nd other departments of the Council. In 1992, Justice Sherif moved to the Supreme Constitutional Court as Assistant Counselor for the Commissioners’ Body. He was promoted to full Counselor in 1993 and was assigned Acting Head of the Commissioners’ Body that same year. In December 2002 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Justice.
After working in private practice for a short period of time, he was appointed to the Council of the State (Egypt’s system for administrative judiciary), where he served between 1980 and 1992 in the various positions within the judicial section a nd other departments of the Council. In 1992, Justice Sherif moved to the Supreme Constitutional Court as Assistant Counselor for the Commissioners’ Body. He was promoted to full Counselor in 1993 and was assigned Acting Head of the Commissioners’ Body that same year. In December 2002 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Justice.
In the environment area, Justice Sherif is a member of both the judicial advisory board to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); a member of the specialist judicial group and the soil specialist group at the International Union for Conservation of the Nature (IUCN). In addition, Justice Sherif serves as a Secretary General for the Arab Supreme Courts Union for the Protection of the Environment, and he is also a member of the Executive Planning Committee of the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, INECE, Washington, DC, USA. Further, Justice Sherif has recently been selected as a member of the Steering Committee of the Commission on Environmental Law at the IUCN.
Justice Sherif was a Visiting Fellow at the Human Rights Law Centre of the College of Law, DePaul University in Chicago, IL in 1992, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex from 1993–94, the Federal Judicial Center in Washington D.C. in 1996 a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University from 1998-99. As of the Spring Semester of 2008, Justice Sherif has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Comparative Law at Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Justice Sherif was a Visiting Fellow at the Human Rights Law Centre of the College of Law, DePaul University in Chicago, IL in 1992, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex from 1993–94, the Federal Judicial Center in Washington D.C. in 1996 a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University from 1998-99. As of the Spring Semester of 2008, Justice Sherif has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Comparative Law at Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA.
Justice Sherif was a Visiting Fellow at the Human Rights Law Centre of the College of Law, DePaul University in Chicago, IL in 1992, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex from 1993–94, the Federal Judicial Center in Washington D.C. in 1996 a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University from 1998-99. As of the Spring Semester of 2008, Justice Sherif has been a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Comparative Law at Dedman School of Law, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA.
He has written and published widely on various legal aspects including human rights, constitutional issues, Islamic law and environmental law.