Kamil Idris

Kamil Eltayeb Idris (Arabic: كامل إدريس‎) (born on 26 August 1954)[2] is a Sudanese statesman, scholar and international civil servant.[3] He was Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from November 1997 to September 2008. He was also head of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).[4][5] Idris stepped down a year early from his post as head of WIPO, amidst "allegations he misled WIPO about his age".[6]

Kamil Idris
Born
Kamil Eltayeb Idris[1]

26 August 1954 (1954-08-26) (age 66)
NationalitySudanese
Known forDirector General of WIPO, Presidential Candidate in The Sudan

Education

According to a document prepared by the Office of the UPOV, Kamil Idris holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Khartoum University, Sudan, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Political Science and Economic Theories from Cairo University, Egypt, a Master in International Law and International Affairs from Ohio University, United States, and a Doctorate in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva, Switzerland.[5] Franklin Pierce Law Center in the United States awarded Idris an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree in May 1999.[7] In 2005, Idris received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Indira Gandhi National Open University in India.[8]

Career
Congressional Record

Idris joined WIPO on 30 December 1982.[9] Idris was member of the International Law Commission from 1992 to 1996 and from 2000 to 2001.[10] On 22 September 1997 he was appointed Director General of WIPO for a period of six years.[11] Idris succeeded Árpád Bogsch, who served as Director General for 25 years. The Director General oversees WIPO's efforts for global intellectual property protection. In March 1998, Idris visited the United States Congress and met with the United States Secretary of Commerce to discuss safeguarding and promoting American ingenuity, and he received an official welcome by Congress.[12] He was formally re-appointed to a second six-year term as Director General of WIPO on 27 May 2003.[13][14] Throughout his tenure as Director Genera, Idris donated his salary as Secretary-General of the Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV) to developing countries. His mandate was originally due to end on 30 November 2009. A WIPO document released in 2016 indicate that in 2007, Idris requested that the WIPO Coordination Committee advance the process for appointing his replacement, whose appointment began October 2008.

In 2010, Idris was an independent candidate for President of Sudan.[15]

Controversy

In 2006, a report conducted by WIPO's Internal Audit and Oversight Division at the request of the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit showed Idris' age had been misrepresented was the information was leaked to media outlets.[16][17][18][19][20] Earlier WIPO records showed Idris' date of birth to be 26 August 1945, but he had attempted to change his records to show he was born on 26 August 1954.[17] On 21 September 2007 the Secretariat of the WIPO called the report[21] "a deliberate intention to harm [Idris]" [22] and criticized the report's legitimacy and failure of the author to follow procedure which compromised its confidential status.[23] Idris' birthday has been reported as possibly being 26 August 1945,[24] 26 August 1953[25] or 26 August 1954.[2]

During the 10-day WIPO general assembly that ended on 3 October 2007, a move to remove Idris from his position was blocked. WIPO came under fire for its credibility. Idris agreed to resign,[26] and stepped down a year early from his post as head of WIPO.[6]

In December 2016, it was reported that documents from WIPO dated in 2010 signed by the legal counsel of the organization, Edward Kwakwa, were released which show that Idris did not misrepresent his birth date.[27]

Awards and honors

Idris is an Honorary Fellow at Durham University in the United Kingdom.[28]

Bibliography
  • Kamil Idris, Michael Barolo (24 February 2000). A Better United Nations for the New Millennium. Springer.
  • Kamil Idris (2003). Intellectual Property - A Power Tool For Economic Growth. World Intellectual Property Organization.
  • Kamil Idris, Hisamitsu Arai (June 30, 2006). The Intellectual Property - Conscious Nation: Mapping the path from developing to developed. World Intellectual Property Organization.

References
  1. Kamil Eltayeb Idris, "Case study on the treaty establishing a preferential trade area for eastern and southern African states", Doctoral Thesis, Université de Genève, Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales, 1984.
  2. For instance item E.1.17.8 (page 7) of the IAOD/INV/2006/2 report.
  3. "Where the Nile Meets the Wear". Living North. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  4. "UPOV, Dr. Kamil Idris re-appointed UPOV Secretary-General, Press Release No. 57, Geneva, October 23, 2003. (pdf)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2005. Retrieved May 8, 2006.
  5. "UPOV, Geneva Council, Thirty-Seventh Ordinary Session, Geneva, October 23, 2003, Appointment of Dr. Kamil Idris as Secretary-General of UPOV for the period December 1, 2003, to November 30, 2009." (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 18, 2005. Retrieved May 8, 2006.
  6. Wall Street Journal, Gurry named U.N. patent chief, September 23, 2008
  7. "WIPO Director General Addresses Graduates at Franklin Pierce Law Center".
  8. "Ignou gets a new thrust area".
  9. Item F.4.1.28.1 (page 10) of the IAOD/INV/2006/2 report.
  10. International Law Commission web site, Present and Former Members of the International Law Commission (1949-2006) Archived 2014-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Item F.4.1.28.4 (page 11) of the IAOD/INV/2006/2 report.
  12. "Welcoming Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization" (PDF). United States Government Publishing Office. March 3, 1998.
  13. "WIPO, Dr. Kamil Idris re-appointed as WIPO Director General, Press Release PR/2003/348, Geneva, May 27, 2003". Archived from the original on February 17, 2005. Retrieved May 8, 2006.
  14. Item F.4.1.28.5 (page 11) of the IAOD/INV/2006/2 report.
  15. Nesrine Malik (February 2, 2010). "Sudan's elections: divorced from hope". The Guardian.
  16. IAOD/INV/2006/2, Report of the Investigation on Allegations Referred by the Joint Inspection Unit Concerning Mr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO, by the Senior Internal Auditor and Acting Director, Internal Audit and Oversight Division, November 2006, Posted on Foxnews.com.
  17. WIPO chief offers lessons in keeping young (updated), Managing Intellectual Property, February 1, 2007. Consulted on July 1, 2007.
  18. Intellectual Property Watch, Investigation Finds WIPO Head Repeatedly Misreported His Age, February 20, 2007.
  19. Frances Williams, Probe says head of Wipo misled officials, Financial Times, February 22, 2007. Consulted on July 1, 2007.
  20. Claudia Rosett, One for the Ages: U.N. Official Uses Two Birthdates, FOXNews.com, February 28, 2007. Consulted on July 1, 2007.
  21. World Intellectual Property Organization, Brief Note on Allegations Against the Organization and its Director General, Document A/43/INF/8, September 21, 2007, Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO, Forty-Third Series of Meetings, Geneva, September 24 to October 3, 2007 (copy archive here)
  22. Brief Note on Allegations Against the Organization and its Director General, item 17.
  23. Brief Note on Allegations Against the Organization and its Director General, item 18.
  24. For instance items A.1 (page 3) and E.1.17.1 (page 7) of IAOD/INV/2006/2, Report of the Investigation on Allegations Referred by the Joint Inspection Unit Concerning Mr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO, by the Senior Internal Auditor and Acting Director, Internal Audit and Oversight Division, November 2006, Posted on Foxnews.com.
  25. For instance items A.2 (page 3), E.1.17.2 (page 7) and F.5.1.54 (page 15) of the IAOD/INV/2006/2 report.
  26. "Senior UN official accepts $300,000, pension benefits to resign over age change". International Herald Tribune. December 5, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2017. (Associated Press writer Frank Jordans contributed to this report) (original link: here).
  27. "جسر نيوز" تحصل على وثائق مهمة مصدرها الأمم المتحدة تدحض أكاذيب تعديل كامل ادريس لشهادة ميلاده" (in Arabic). Sudanese Online. December 26, 2016.
  28. "Professor Kamil Idris".
Preceded by
Árpád Bogsch		 Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
1997–2008		 Succeeded by
Francis Gurry
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