Commissioner

Mrs ASUAGBOR Lucy

Biography

Commissioner

AYUK ASUAGBOR née NKONGHO LUCY

Retired Super Scale Judicial Officer

Previously Judge at the Supreme Court of Cameroon

Former Member of the Higher Judicial Council

Former Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of the South-West Region

Former Member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Born on 16 September 1951, she is married and mother of five children

Mrs Lucy AYUK ASUAGBOR NKONGHO holds an LLM (Master of Laws degree) in International Maritime Law which she obtained in 1992 at the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta, years after obtaining her LLB (Bachelor of Laws) at the University of Lagos in 1977, in Nigeria, and her passage to the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) in Yaounde in 1979.

Throughout her long career as a magistrate, she has held various positions, the most notable of which, at the national level, are those of Vice-President of the Littoral Court of Appeal (1988-1998), President of the Littoral High Court (1998-2001), Chief Justice of the South-West Court of Appeal (2002-2014) and Judge at the Supreme Court (2014-2020). She was also a member of the Higher Judicial Council from 2005 to 2014.

At the international level, Mrs Lucy ASUAGBOR was a member of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights from 2010 to 2020, where she served as Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Chairperson of the Working Group on the Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS and Populations at Risk or Vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, member of the Committee on the Prevention of Torture in Africa and member of the Working Group on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, and Chairperson of the Working Group on the Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS and Populations at Risk or Vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, member of the Committee on the Prevention of Torture in Africa and member of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and Minorities in Africa.

Mrs Lucy ASUAGBOR has also lent her expertise as a consultant, speaker or resource person to numerous international events, both face-to-face and web-based. She also served as an arbitrator for Cameroon at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes from 2001 to 2010 and a trainer in OHADA law.

Mrs ASUAGBOR has a wealth of experience as a legal expert and has authored or co-authored a number of articles published in legal journals and on legal websites. She has also participated in the drafting and revision of some sub-regional instruments, notably the Civil Aviation Code of the Economic Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) and the Community Code of Merchant Shipping of CEMAC, respectively.

She is affiliated to a good range of scholarly circles, such as the International Association of Women Judges, the Cameroon Association of Women Lawyers, FIDA Cameroon and the South West Magistrates’ Association and the Association of Magistrates of Cameroon.

With regard to honours, Mrs Lucy ASUAGBOR is a Commander of the National Order of Valour.

She is a member of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, by presidential decree, since 19 February 2021.