The jurist who draughted Benin’s 1990 constitution
On 9 August 1990 the constitutional commission he chaired adopted the draft constitution; it was approved by referendum on 2 December 1990 and promulgated on 11 December 1990.
A Beninese jurist and legal scholar born in 1934 at Zinvié, Dahomey. He chaired the National Conference’s constitutional affairs commission in February 1990 and prepared the draft of the constitution of 11 December 1990. He presided over the constituent assembly in 1990–1991, worked at UNESCO, wrote on the political and social history of Dahomey, and served on UN human rights bodies.
Career Timeline
- 1965–1966Adviser to the UNESCO Director-General
- 1967–1992UNESCO official
- 1975–Professor of law at the Sorbonne
- 1989–1993Deputy Director-General of UNESCO
- 1990Chair of the National Conference’s Commission on Laws and Constitutional Affairs
- 1990–1991President of the constituent assembly
- 1994–2002UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism
- 2000–Member of the UN Human Rights Committee