Who Is Dr. Poku Adusei, An Appeals Court Judge Nominee?

Dr. Poku Adusei LLB, BL, EMBA (Ghana); LLM (Alberta); DCL (McGill);

Dr. Poku Adusei is the Director, Legal, of the National Communications Authority. He served as the Deputy Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority between September 2017 and March 2019. Prior to these appointments, Dr. Adusei was a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, School of Law, where he taught Intellectual Property Law, Ghana Legal System, Conflict of Laws, Company Law and Land Law. Dr. Adusei hails from Banko in the Sekyere/Kumawu District of the Ashanti Region. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Degree from the University of Ghana and a Qualified Certificate in Law from the Ghana School of Law, Accra. He was called to the Ghana Bar in 2003. Dr. Adusei was awarded the H.N. McDermid Scholarship for proven ability in the area of specialization by the University of Alberta, Canada, where he earned his Master of Laws (LL.M.) Degree with specialization in copyright law and innovation. He holds a PhD in patent law, innovation and development from the prestigious McGill University in Canada, and an Executive Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Ghana Business School.

Dr. Adusei joined the University of Ghana in March 2006 as a Lecturer in the then Faculty of Law, Legon. He was promoted to the position of Senior Lecturer in February 2013, and served, a couple of times, as acting Dean of Law while the substantive Dean was away. Poku Adusei served as the Chair of the University of Ghana Disciplinary Committee for Junior and Senior Staff. He was a Tutor of Mensah Sarbah Hall of the University of Ghana, and the Coordinator of Graduate Studies at the School of Law, University of Ghana. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology at the University of Ghana, and served as a member of the Ethics Committee for the Humanities of the University of Ghana. He played vital roles in the development of Intellectual Property Policy for the University of Ghana through the Office of Research, Innovation and Development. His research focuses on law, innovation, technology transfer, public health, and development.

Dr. Adusei has written extensively on the subject of intellectual property law, technology transfer, and innovation in reputable local and international peer-reviewed journals, including, the Journal of African Law, African Journal of International and Comparative Law, Global Journal of Comparative Law, Journal of World Intellectual Property, African Journal of Information and Communication, University of Botswana Law Journal, KNUST Law Journal, Lancaster University Ghana Law Journal, and University of Ghana Law Journal. Dr. Adusei is the author of two academic books: Patenting of Pharmaceuticals and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Laws, Institutions, Practices, and Politics, published in 2013 by Springer in New York/ Germany; and Protecting Moral Rights under Copyright Law: the Stride Forward, published in 2009 by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing in Germany.

Dr. Adusei has further consulted for many governmental agencies and international organizations, including, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Ghana-Swiss Intellectual Property Project under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Judicial Training Institute, Ghana Lands Commission, Ghana Integrity Initiative, a local chapter of Transparency International, West Africa Civil Society Institute, and has travelled widely on those assignments. He has conducted research work on project finance, human rights and sustainable development for the International Institute for Environment and Development, UK. He led the Ghana team of researchers for the IDRC-sponsored African Copyright & Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project.

He was also the West African researcher on the implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda, a project sponsored by IDRC-Canada and Germany’s GIZ. Since being called to the Ghana Bar, Dr Adusei has attained remarkable excellence in corporate law practice and commercial litigation in the Superior Court of Judicature in Ghana. He has also been involved in a number of human rights/public interest litigation against mining companies and other agencies in Ghana.

Dr. Adusei served as the Managing Partner of Poku Adusei & Associates, a law firm that specializes in corporate law practice, the provision of consultancy services, and commercial litigation.

With over twenty (20) years of corporate legal practice, Dr. Adusei has successfully represented many corporate clients in intellectual property law and practice, land litigation, technology, and innovation law consultancies, and the pursuit of alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Congratulations on your appointment as an Appeals Court Judge, Sekyere Banko Dehyeɛ!