Profession:
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Head of Chambers and Senior Partner, Dr. Kamal Hossain & Associates
Academic Experience:
Dr Kamal Hossain taught in the Faculty of Law in Dhaka University in the early sixties.
In 1975 he was elected Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, when he worked on the political negotiations preceding the military attack and the independence of Bangladesh
In 1997 he was elected as Dom Helder visiting professor at the Free University of Amsterdam
Legal Counsel:
Dr Kamal Hossain is a reputable international and constitutional lawyer and has taken up landmark cases for human rights, including:
As a member of the defence team for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the Agartala Conspiracy Case in 1967
As defence counsel for freedom of press and for lifting the ban on two Bangla newspapers Ittefaq and Sangbad in the early sixties
Public interest litigations for minorities in Bangladesh, right of slum dwellers to shelter.
Membership in Professional Societies:
Dr Kamal Hossain has been very active in international organisations particularly dealing with law, international relations and human rights.
He has served as:
Vice-Chairman, International Law Association, as
Council Member of LAWASIA Energy Law Section,
Chairman, Advisory Council, Transparency International.
Co-chair, International Council, Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, Montreal
International Human Rights:
Dr Kamal Hossain has worked with the UN and other international forums for the promotion of human rights as:
UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan from 1998-2003
Co-Chair United Nations commission on Inquiry into Human Rights violations in the Occupied Territories in 2001
Member of Forum Asia Human Rights Mission to Indonesia relating to the situation in East Timor in 1999
Chair Commonwealth Human Rights Advisory Commission between 1993-1998
Chair, (Panel) United Nations Compensation Commission, Geneva (1999 – 2003)
National Organisations
Dr Kamal Hossain has been elected as Chair of the Bar Association in Bangladesh from 1990-1991 and as
Vice Chair of the Bar Council from 1989-1995
He is currently Chair, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and South Asia Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, both based in Bangladesh
Publications:
Dr Kamal Hossain is the author of:
Law and Policy in Petroleum Development (1979, London and New York)
Co-author of :
Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources in International Law (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1984), (co-editor: Subrata Roy Chowdhury).
And editor of Legal Aspects of the New International Economic Order (New York: Nichols, 1980)
He has also contributed extensively to professional journals on international law and human rights.
Education:
BA (Hons) Jurisprudence, Oxford University, 1957
Bachelor of Civil Law, Oxford University, 1958
Doctor of Philosophy (International Law), Oxford University, 1964
Barrister-at-Law, Lincolns Inn, England & Wales, 1959
He is currently Chairperson of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, and South Asian Institute of Law in Bangladesh
