Dr. Michael Imran Kanu

Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone, United Nations

Dr. Michael Imran Kanu (SJD) is one of the presenters at our EAD 2024 Spring Summit international workshop, “Reforming the UN Security Council: Bridging Gaps for Global Inclusion.” Dr. Kanu is currently Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, and the Representative of Sierra Leone at the United Nations Security Council. He is also the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica; and a Member of the Legal and Technical Commission of the ISA (2023-2027). He is Vice-President and Coordinator of the New York Working Group of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and co-chairs the Review Mechanism of the ICC.

Dr. Kanu served as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative (Legal Affairs) at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations in New York (2018-2023).  A legal practitioner in Sierra Leone, he previously served as Managing Partner of Kanu & Associates law firm, Prosecutor at the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and Secretary of the General Legal Council, Republic of Sierra Leone.

Dr. Kanu holds a Doctoral of Juridical Science degree in International Business Law (SJD), Central European University; Master of Laws in International Business Law (LL.M), Central European University; Degree of Utter Barrister (B.L), Sierra Leone Law School; and Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LL.B), Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is a United Nations International Law Fellow and a Visiting Senior Fellow in Practice, the Law School of the London School of Economics and Political Science.