Mrs. Janet R. Sallah-Njie is the Managing Partner TORODO Chambers; one of the leading law firms in The Gambia. Lecturer, Gambia Law School. Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. Appointed by the African Commission at it 69th Ordinary Session as the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. Member of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of People Living with HIV and those at Risk, Vulnerable to and Affected by HIV and Vice Chairperson of the Resolutions Committee.
Winner of Women of the Year 2022- She Awards.
She has a distinguished career as a Legal Practitioner and Women’s Rights Advocate. Her Formal qualifications include, LLB (Hons), (University of Sierra Leone); BL (Hons) (Nigerian Law School; LLM (Hons)- (London School of Economics and Political Science); Post Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting (University of West Indies). She also benefitted from several training programmes and professional development courses; including Gender and Development, Competition Law and Policy, intellectual Property Rights, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Environmental Law and policy and Sharia Personal Law.
Prior to establishing her own law firm, she served in various positions within the public service of The Gambia from 1989 to 2002, up to the position of Solicitor General and Legal Secretary. She ended her career in the public service as Legal Adviser to Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, (2000-2002).
Mrs. Sallah-Njie is a passionate human rights activist, especially in the area of the promotion of Women’s Right. She was the leading advocate for the ratification and domestication of the CEDAW and Maputo Protocol in The Gambia. She took personal responsibility, as a Consultant for the drafting of the main legal instruments for the domestication of these international and regional Bills of Rights for Women. She proactively organized her peers to form The Female Lawyers Association -The Gambia (FLAG). She is the Founder President and current Adviser of the FLAG. She is a champion of strategic litigation for the promotion the rights of women. In this respect, she personally represents indigent women before the formal court system up to the level of the Supreme Court of The Gambia, and before the Sharia Court system.
Major assignments include-
- Commissioner of the Constitutional Review Commission of the Gambia;
- Former Chairperson of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission of The Gambia;
- Former Vice Chairperson of The Gambia Revenue Authority;
- Former member of the Board of Directors of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority,
- Coordinator and Key Expert European Union Technical Assistance for Access to Justice and Legal Education in the Gambia, as part of the EU Governance Programme;
- National Review Report on The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action-Beijing Plus 20;
- Review of National Laws relating to women and Gender Based Violence and the drafting of the Women’s Act 2013, Sexual Offences Act 2013, the Domestic Violence Act 2013, and Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia (Amendment) Bill 2021, (To make provision for affirmative action and increased participation of women and the disabled in the National Assembly);
- Consultant to UN Women and the Commonwealth Secretariat to undertake a comprehensive desk review of all laws in the Gambia (the first of its kind globally) as a key part of the implementation of Equality in Law for Women and Girls by 2030: A Multistakeholder Strategy for Accelerated Action as a roadmap for the elimination of laws that discriminate against women and girls.
- Review The Legal, Regulatory and Policy Framework For Combating Corona Virus (Covid19) And To Draft Relevant Regulations To Facilitate Effective Implementation Of Preventive And Remedial Measures By Health Authorities In The Gambia; Revision of Public Health Bill.
