Frans Viljoen, Professor and Acting NRF SARChI Chair in International Constitutional Law

Frans Viljoen is the Acting NRF SARChI Chair in International Constitutional Law

Professor Frans Viljoen, who took up the NRF Chair in International Constitutional Law on an acting basis as from 1 March 2024,  is professor of law and immediate past Director of the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law (2007-2023). His area of research is regional human rights protection, with particular attention to the African Union human rights standards, institutions and processes, within their socio-economic and political context. He is the author of one of the leading texts on the African human rights system, International human rights law in Africa. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the leading journal on human rights in Africa, the African Human Rights Law Journal, and founding convening editor of the African Human Rights Yearbook/ Annuaire africain des droits de l’homme. He has served as visiting professor on the African human rights system at various Universities, including the University of Peace, Costa Rica, the Sorbonne and Oxford.  Frans is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Global Campus of Human Rights, an institution bringing together seven Master’s programmes from across the globe in the fields of human rights and democratisation. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council, and the current chairperson of the Association of Human Rights Institutes.