Surya Subedi

He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) by the University of Oxford in 2019. and the Doctor of Laws (LLD) honoris causa by the University of Hull, England, in 2020. He was elected an Honorary Member of Nepal Academy in 2021. The president of Nepal, Bidya Devi Bhandari, awarded Subedi the honour of Prasidhha Prabal Janasewa Shree on 19 September 2022. Prior to this, he had been decorated with the Suprabal Gorkhadaxinbahu by King Birendra of Nepal in 1998. Other honours include the Dasturzada Pavry Memorial Prize from the University of Oxford (for his DPhil thesis in 1993), an SPTL Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship from the British Society of Legal Scholars (for one of his books in 1997) and the Josephine Onoh Memorial Prize from the University of Hull (as best LLM student of the year in 1988). He also won a British Council Scholarship to study for an LLM in International Law.

The Royal Asiatic Society launched an annual prize named after Subedi in 2022. The 'Surya P. Subedi Prize' is intended to be awarded to a book or an article on Nepal in English published anywhere in the world in any one calendar year.

Both of his alma maters - the University of Oxford and the University of Hull - also established prizes in his name. The Subedi Prize for the best doctoral thesis (DPhil) of the year in Law was established at the University of Oxford in 2020. Likewise, the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull established a global essay prize on modern slavery or the protection of human dignity in his name in 2022.

Subedi was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) (Hon) in 2017 in recognition of his contribution to the development of international law and to the advancement of human rights. A press release of the British Government of January 2017 stated that Subedi had made "an exceptional contribution over a sustained period at the international level to develop international law and to advance human rights."

Surya Prasad Subedi, OBE , KC , DCL is an international jurist. He is Professor of International Law at the University of Leeds, a member of the Institut de Droit International, and a Barrister in London. He also is a visiting professor on the international human rights law programme of the University of Oxford. He served as the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia for six years (2009-2015). He also served for five years, starting in 2010, on an advisory group on human rights to the British Foreign Secretary. In 2021, he was appointed legal procedural advisor to the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature held in Marseille, France. He has written a number of works on the theory and practice of international law and human rights and acted as a counsel in a number of cases before the international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice. In 2022, he was appointed to the list of arbitrators under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted unanimously for Subedi to be the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia at the 10th Session of the Council in 2009. On his appointment, Subedi said: "The main task would be to cast an impartial expert eye on the overall human rights situation in Cambodia and offer constructive advice to the Government to address the problems that exist with regard to the overall situation in the country". When he commenced his human rights work in the county, the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, asked publicly Subedi to go back to his own country and sort out the political issues in the country rather than lecturing the Government of Cambodia on how to improve the situation of human rights. The Prime Minister had been irked by the reports of Subedi stating that the judiciary and electoral commission were not independent in the country. Subedi was on the verge of being declared a persona non-grata in Cambodia by the Government. However, Subedi received support for his UN work from the international community, including the US President Barack Obama and the European Parliament.

He was appointed in 2004 by the World Trade Organization to the Roster of Panellists of its Dispute Settlement System. He was also designated to serve on the panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Prior to this, he was made an OBE in 2004 for his services to international law. Speaking at the OBE investiture on 19 October 2004 in London, the British Foreign Secretary stated that Subedi had "made a highly distinguished contribution to our understanding of international law, and to its evolution" and his work in international law had "spanned almost every aspect of it – with a special focus on issues ... which make a real difference to people's lives".

Subedi began his career in law as a public prosecutor in the Office of the Attorney-General of Nepal and after promotion proceeded to work for the Royal Commission on Judicial Reform and as Under-Secretary in the International Law Office of the Ministry of Law and Justice. He later served as advisor on international legal matters to the late King Birendra and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was involved in the establishment of the Asian Society of International Law with its head office at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore, and is Chairman of the Board of Editors of the flagship publication of the Society – the Asian Journal of International Law – published by Cambridge University Press. Prior to this, he was chief editor of the Asian Yearbook of International Law between 1999 and 2006 published by Martinus Nijhoff in The Hague. In addition, he is editor of a series of monographs on 'human rights and international law' published by Routledge (London/New York).

Subedi began his academic career as a Lecturer in Law in 1993 at the University of Hull. After promotion, he became a Professor of Law in 1999 at Hull. He moved to the University of Leeds to become Professor of International Law.

In 1986, as a recipient of the British Council Scholarship (now known as the Chevening Scholarship), he moved to the United Kingdom to begin and subsequently complete a degree at the University of Hull (LLM with Distinction 1988) and thereafter the University of Oxford DPhil (PhD) in Law with a prize in 1993.

Subedi was born in Nepal. He began his higher education at Tribhuvan University, completing his LLB degree in 1981 and an MA in 1984. He then proceeded to practise law as an advocate, including as a law officer in the international law office of the Government.